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.
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 in celebrating 30 years of designing, restoring, and creating wetlands with a night to remember at Chicago’s Morgan Arts Complex.
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.
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. This is an important way you can participate in restoration of this internationally recognized site and its diverse native habitats.
Bring your own water bottle and we'll provide snacks, tools, and gloves. Please wear appropriate clothing for fieldwork (e.g., long pants, closed-toe shoes). Children 16 years old or younger must be accompanied by a parent or other chaperone.
Meet at 9:00 a.m. at the parking lot by the observation tower. Click here for a map and driving directions.
Please email us if you plan to attend.
Photo by Lindsay Appel
At our 2018 BioBlitz, participants came out in droves to help experts survey for owls, bats, snakes, frogs, and nocturnal insects at our Dixon Waterfowl Refuge—and they couldn’t get enough! For this special-edition Mini-Blitz, we’re scheduling only twilight and nighttime species surveys to give people another chance to experience the Refuge after dark.
No experience is needed to participate, and hot dogs and s’mores around the campfire will be provided.
Attendance for this event is very limited. To be notified when registration will open, enter your email here.
You can view the results of the 2018 BioBlitz here.
More than a hundred years ago, a tiny flower known as Thismia americana was last seen at Indian Ridge Marsh. That hasn’t stopped plant nerds from across the Midwest from gathering to hunt for it! This year, everybody is invited to join the Wetlands Initiative, Audubon Great Lakes, the Chicago Park District, and the Illinois Soybean Association on the ultimate nature scavenger hunt. Plus there will be snacks, prizes, and a family-friendly celebration of the people and places that make the Calumet region the vibrant community it is today.
The Mike Nowak Show, which broadcasts every Sunday morning from 9:00 to 11:00 on WCGO (1590 AM and 95.9 FM), will be joining us for the Thismia hunt this year. Co-hosts Mike Nowak and Peggy Malecki will be interviewing guests live from Indian Ridge Marsh that morning.
FREE buses will be available for this event, leaving from Bridgeport Coffee in Hyde Park, the Pullman Visitor Center, and the East Side and Hegewisch libraries. Learn more about bus pickup and dropoff times here.
We’ll be meeting at 9:00 in the morning in the Indian Ridge Marsh parking lot at 11740 South Torrence Avenue in Chicago. We recommend bringing water, sturdy shoes, and a rain jacket just in case.
Please email us at twi@wetlands-initiative.org if you plan to attend or would like more information.
Photo by Trevor Edmonson/TWI
Join the Wetlands Initiative, Audubon Great Lakes, and the Chicago Park District for a rare after-hours peek at the nocturnal biodiversity of Indian Ridge Marsh! Learn all about the moths of Chicago’s Southeast Side with a moonlit walk through this unique habitat restoration, checking out moth traps made of fermented fruit jelly (yum!). TWI’s own moth enthusiast Trevor Edmonson will be using his halogen light trap to attract all kinds of nocturnal insects, and teaching people how to take close-up photos of these amazing, underappreciated creatures.
Meet at 7:00 in the evening in the Indian Ridge Marsh parking lot at 11740 South Torrence Avenue in Chicago. We recommend bringing water, sturdy shoes, a flashlight, and a rain jacket just in case.
Please email us at twi@wetlands-initiative.org if you plan to attend or would like more information.
Come see TWI’s latest nutrient-removing farm-based wetland get installed at Illinois Central College (ICC) and learn about other on-farm conservation practices as well during this free field day, sponsored by ICC, TWI, the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership (ISAP), and the Illinois Land Improvement Contractors Association (ILICA). There will be interactive agriculture stations and plenty of experts on hand to answer your questions.
Illinois Central College is home to a highly regarded and popular agricultural program where the next generation of farmers will have the opportunity to learn hands-on how TWI’s “smart wetlands” can be part of a sustainable and productive operation.
Participants may register in advance for this free event here or simply drop by on Thursday, July 25.
Please email us at twi@wetlands-initiative.org if you would like more information.
