Category Archives: Uncategorized

Adrian Ayres Fisher writes at ecological gardening on the subject of a proposed housing development adjacent to a local prairie remnant: “[T] destructive pattern needs to stop already, right here and now. It so happens that these 15 acres are integral to a vitally necessary buffer zone that shields Wolf Road Prairie, an Illinois NatureContinue reading “The Push to Protect Wolf Road Prairie”

Like many birds, and the Monarch butterfly, the beautiful Common Green Darner is a migratory creature. Much less is known about it and other migratory insects, however. What is known about the Green Darner is astounding: it accomplishes its travels over the course of three generations, with a multigenerational range between 373 and 1,553 miles.Continue reading “The Neighborhood Naturalist”

Nothing seems more appropriate on a blog about urban wildlife habitat than one of the most uplifting local conservation success stories – the repeated nesting and mating of Monty and Rose, Chicago’s most famous young couple. A little bit of beach in the right spot, lots of privacy, and a whole lot of careful humanContinue reading “Piping Plover chicks successfully fledge at Montrose Beach for Third Year in a Row!”

“While the value of urban areas to wildlife conservation remains contentious, there is a growing recognition that cities are key to the future of conservation as the human footprint expands relentlessly around the globe. In fact, researchers are increasingly working with city planners, landscape architects and urban wildlife managers to make cities part of theContinue reading “The role of urban areas in preserving biodiversity”

Congratulations to all the D90 students – 7th grade science students and the 2021 summer school gardening class – who helped weed, dig, put dozens of plants in the ground, and water them all through the last few weeks of a very hot and dry spring. After a year of remote/hybrid learning and pandemic-related challenges,Continue reading “D90’s Roosevelt Middle School Officially Certified as a National Wildlife Foundation Habitat Garden”

The native garden at Lincoln Elementary in River Forest District 90 is ahead of the curve. Already certified with the National Wildlife Federation as a wildlife habitat, it is also registered with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the regional conservation organization West Cook Wild Ones as valuable natural habitat. (There may be otherContinue reading “An Early Certified Garden: Lincoln Elementary School”

Excerpt from Opinion published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, January 12, 2021.** (Full citation below): 1. Convert lawns into diverse natural habitats. Traditional European or Western lawns are biodiversity deserts (15). There are more than 40 million acres of lawns or turf grass in theContinue reading “Eight simple actions that individuals can take to save insects from global declines”

We are thrilled to launch our community wildlife habitat certification project with a plot at Roosevelt Middle School. The site of previous native, ornamental, and edible gardening efforts, the site has the advantages of being centrally located within the Village, highly visible to students and residents, and accessible to students and teachers for educational purposes.Continue reading “Habitat #1: Roosevelt Middle School”