Join TWI, the Chicago Park District, and The Nature Conservancy for the 3rd annual volunteer trash clean-up along South Stony Island Avenue as part of a city-wide initiative for Earth Day. The success of the Chicago Park District Earth Day clean up is in your hands!
Join The Wetlands Initiative staff along with our guest experts for a Mini-Bioblitz on Sunday, April 26 from 9am to noon. This event is being hosted as part of the first-ever City Nature Challenge spanning Central Illinois! Participants will split into focused groups to document species in different taxonomic groups: plants, insects, birds, and reptiles & amphibians.
Burn away your winter blues with TWI at a volunteer workday at the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge! Working carefully around burn piles, volunteers will help remove logs and woody debris from trees that were recently felled to improve habitat and thin the tree canopy in the Sandy Hollow oak savanna.
Kick off the new year by spreading native seeds to help with wetland restoration work at Indian Ridge Marsh! No experience is needed for this fun and family-friendly volunteer activity.
Join the Wetlands Initiative in celebrating 30 years of designing, restoring, and creating wetlands with a night to remember at Chicago’s Morgan Arts Complex.
Celebrate fall by helping to collect native seed in the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s restored prairie and wetland ecosystems. This is the second of two seed harvests that TWI is holding at the Refuge this fall - join us for one or both! No experience is needed for this fun and easy volunteer activity.
Experience the beauty of autumn at the Sue and Wes Dixon Waterfowl Refuge! Learn about the site’s unique flora and fauna through two guided hikes along the new Violet Meadow trail and the Illinois Nature Preserve dedicated Dore Seep trail.
Join TWI in partnership with the Little Calumet River Conservation Collaborative and the Northwest Indiana Paddling Association (NWIPA) for a day in the outdoors at Lake Etta in Gary, Indiana! Participants can choose between paddling the Little Calumet River in kayaks or taking a guided bird walk near the lake. All will have the chance to learn about upcoming river restoration efforts happening at the nearby Chase Street Complex.
Celebrate fall by helping to collect native seed in the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s beautiful Sandy Hollow. This is the first of two seed harvests that TWI is holding at the Refuge this fall - join us for one or both! No experience is needed for this fun and easy volunteer activity.
TWI donors are invited to join our staff for a driving tour of TWI’s growing list of restoration sites in the Calumet Region. The group tour will stop at Indian Ridge Marsh and Square Marsh in southeast Chicago.
Join the Wetlands Initiative and partners for a volunteer seedling planting event at MLK South Wetland in Gary, Indiana. This event is hosted by the Little Calumet River Conservation Collaborative, a coalition working to improve and restore wetland habitat in Northwest Indiana.
Join the Wetlands Initiative and partners for a volunteer seedling planting event at Highland Rookery. This event is hosted by the Little Calumet River Conservation Collaborative, a coalition working to improve and restore wetland habitat in Northwest Indiana.
Join the Wetlands Initiative and partners for a volunteer seedling planting event at Grant Street Wetland in Gary, Indiana. This event is hosted by the Little Calumet River Conservation Collaborative, a coalition working to improve and restore wetland habitat in Northwest Indiana.
Help restore native habitats at the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s Sandy Hollow tract! Volunteers will plant plugs (seedlings) in a savanna area that received a prescribed burn last fall. This will be TWI’s first planting in the area.
Join the Wetlands Initiative, the Chicago Park District, and Friends of the Chicago River for a family-friendly volunteer planting event at Indian Ridge Marsh! Come enjoy the beauty of Indian Ridge Marsh and plant native wildflowers, grasses, and sedges in celebration of the 33rd Annual Chicago River Day.
Join the Wetlands Initiative for a volunteer brush cutting event at Square Marsh, where TWI is working in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, the Chicago Park District, and the Illinois International Port District, in celebration of Earth Day! We’ll meet at the Big Marsh North Parking Lot and then car-pool walk across S Stony Island Ave to Square Marsh to help remove invasive buckthorn trees.
Join The Wetlands Initiative for Grant Street Wetland’s first ever seeding! Together we will hand seed 25 acres to aid the ongoing efforts of wetland habitat restoration at this site.
Join The Wetlands Initiative, the Chicago Park District, and partner organizations for a volunteer seeding event at Indian Ridge Marsh. Volunteers will assist in the spreading of native seed to aid the ongoing efforts of wetland habitat restoration.
Celebrate fall by helping to collect native seed in the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s restored prairie and wetland ecosystems. This is the second of two seed harvests that TWI is holding at the Refuge this fall - join us for one or both! No experience is needed for this fun and easy volunteer activity.
Join the Wetlands Initiative and Chicago Park District for a family-friendly volunteer planting event at Indian Ridge Marsh! Come enjoy the beauty of Indian Ridge Marsh and plant native wildflowers, grasses, and shrubs.
Celebrate fall by helping to collect native seed in the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s beautiful Sandy Hollow. This is the first of two seed harvests that TWI is holding at the Refuge this fall - join us for one or both! No experience is needed for this fun and easy volunteer activity.
Please join the Wetlands Initiative, Lake County Parks & Recreation, The Nature Conservancy, and Audubon Great Lakes in the planting of several thousand native sedges and wildflowers at MLK South Wetland!
In celebration of American Wetlands Month, TWI and Chicago Parks Foundation are hosting a special screening for our supporters of “Fluddles” at Music Box Theatre! Join us May 9th at 7pm to enjoy the Chicago premiere of Bob Dolgan's latest film.
Help restore native habitats at the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s Sandy Hollow tract! Volunteers will plant plugs (seedlings) in prairie habitats at Sandy Hollow. Because the restoration of this upland sandy area is coming along so nicely, we’ll be planting some rarer native plants this year to boost the biodiversity!
Join the Wetlands Initiative for a reception, artist talk, and panel discussion surrounding Our Once & Future Wetlands: Art, Ecology & Engineering at the Oak Park Public Library. This exhibit explores wetland restoration through textile works by Lindsay Olson, TWI’s first ever artist-in-residence, and photographs by Gary Sullivan, TWI’s Senior Ecologist.
Join The Wetlands Initiative, The Nature Conservancy, Lake County Parks & Rec., and Audubon Great Lakes in the planting of several thousand native sedges and wildflowers at Highland Rookery Wetland!
Celebrate fall by helping to collect native seed in the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s beautiful restored prairies and wetlands. No experience is needed for this fun and easy volunteer activity.
Join the Wetlands Initiative, the Geographic Society of Chicago, Chicago Park District, and many other community science organizations for a day of fun and nature exploration at Big Marsh Park, one of Chicago’s largest outdoor spaces! Big Marsh Park features walking, running and biking trails that attract outdoor recreation enthusiasts of all skill levels. It is also home to a wide variety of wildlife including amphibians, reptiles, insects, mammals, and birds.
Celebrate fall by helping to collect native seed in the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s beautiful restored prairies and wetlands. No experience is needed for this fun and easy volunteer activity. This is an important way you can participate in restoration of this internationally recognized site and its diverse native habitats.
Celebrate fall by helping to collect native seed in the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’s beautiful restored prairies and wetlands. No experience is needed for this fun and easy volunteer activity. The seed harvested by volunteers will later be cleaned, sorted, and planted over the winter in other areas of the Refuge that are being restored.
Join the Wetlands Initiative, Audubon Great Lakes, and the Chicago Park District for an evening of "mothing" at Indian Ridge Marsh, a unique habitat restoration on Chicago's Southeast Side.
As part of National Bison Day festivities, come see what Illinois’ tallgrass prairie looked like when bison roamed it! Join the Wetlands Initiative in exploring an area at Midewin called South Patrol Road Prairie, which we previously restored in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. A family-friendly guided hike with TWI’s Trevor Edmonson will include stops to harvest native seed for planting in other areas of Midewin currently under restoration.
