The Conservation Foundation celebrates 45 years
With The Conservation Foundation celebrating 45 years in 2017, the impact of its work can be seen across more than five counties in Northeastern Illinois - miles of cleaner rivers, more than 33,000 acres of preserved land, thousands of homes with native landscaping providing habitats for butterflies and birds.
And that's just for starters.
As The Conservation Foundation celebrates its 45th anniversary this year, plans are being made to open Dayton Bluffs Preserve in Ottawa, a 253-acre preserve on the Lower Fox River made up of woodland and prairie, and more than a mile of protected Fox River shoreline that was spared from development and will be protected for generations to come.
Other plans to commemorate this anniversary include a Facebook campaign to track the location of a #WanderingHeron, followed by information on the foundation's history, a paddleboat ride on the Fox River, a Farm to Fork dinner and a birthday bash at McDonald Farm headquarters.
"I'm proud how we have grown responsibly and been more focused in our local conservation work," President and CEO Brook McDonald said.
"The Conservation Foundation was created by strong community and business leaders with the foresight to put in place mechanisms to set aside open space to balance the impending urban growth."
The Conservation Foundation got its start in 1972 as The Forest Foundation when local leaders that included Brooks McCormick, Chuck Johnson, Bill Greene and Paul Butler became concerned over future development surrounding the Chicago area and wanted to do something about it.
Since then, the foundation has worked with communities and government agencies to preserve more than 33,000 acres of land, taken the lead in developing watershed and river protection plans to improve water quality, and provided 20,000 children with environmental education programs.
Other accomplishments include providing support to pass 12 open space ballot questions raising $750 million for land protection and spearheading the Protect Kendall Now! project in Kendall County to encourage responsible land use planning and preserve more open space.
Some of the foundation's most successful programs are Conservation@Home, which encourages homeowners to use native plants in landscaping; and the annual DuPage River Sweep, which has engaged 12,000 community volunteers cleaning up more than 100 miles of local rivers and streams.
Future projects include:
• The Fox River Initiative - expand nature education in schools, support community conservation goals, and Art on the Fox project to connect art and nature-centered programming.
• Monarch Habitat Project - creating monarch butterfly habitat along the Fox River using a $250,000 grant and working with a dozen other land organizations.
• CITGO Lemont Refinery - helping to restore five acres of natural areas at the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area along the I&M Canal.
Work is focused in DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will counties to preserve and restore nature.
To learn more about the foundation's history, programs and becoming a member, visit theconservationfoundation.org.