The Forest Preserves of Cook County’s Party for the Preserves includes free events Saturday at sites throughout the county, including three in the Southland.
The full day of fun includes a bilingual bird walk that kicks off at 8:30 a.m. at Sagawau Environmental Learning Center in Lemont and wraps up with a concert by Funkadesi along with lake paddles, night hikes and s’mores starting at 4 p.m. at Camp Bullfrog Lake in Willow Springs. In between, a nature bike ride will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at Beaubien Woods in Chicago. Other events are at Thatcher Woods Pavilion in River Forest, Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington and LaBagh Woods in Chicago.
“As the seasons turn, there’s even more to see and do in the Forest Preserves and that deserves a party,” said Forest Preserves General Superintendent Arnold Randall. “This year we are also marking the 30th anniversary of National Public Lands Day and the 60th anniversary of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. We have a lot to celebrate!”
Additional details on all six events are online at https://fpdcc.com/events/category/party or at each Preserve’s webpages. Fall events through the end of November are available in the Fall 2023 Guide.
Since 1994, National Public Lands Day has mobilized volunteers on the fourth Saturday in September to celebrate and care for our nation’s public lands. Nationwide, more than 70,000 participants are expected to join in trail maintenance, clean ups, tree planting, invasive species removal, as well as hikes and other fun activities.
The Forest Preserves are celebrating one more major milestone this season: the 60th anniversary of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. The commission oversees 60 natural sites considered to be the state’s most rare, natural areas, which are almost all that is left of the way the state looked in the early 1800s.
Of those sites, 27 are in Cook County, comprising nearly 11,000 acres of unspoiled natural heritage. This is the most of any local agency in the state, according to a news release.
Preserving nature, providing informative activities, and creating space for fun are all part of the mission of the Forest Preserves, Randall said.
“With so much to celebrate, we hope people of all ages come out to join us Sept. 23 and throughout the fall. Our mission is to help residents feel free to get outdoors,” he said.