Oakton students, staff plant trees

Volunteer students and staff at Oakton Community College spent Wednesday and today planting 180 native trees and bushes at the Des Plaines campus as part of a project sponsored by the Ecology Club.

Oakton's campus on the Des Plaines River includes 55 acres of restored woodlands, wetlands, native seed gardens, and reconstructed prairie. The college initiated a program to revitalize its natural areas in 1992.

The Ecology Club used about $7,000 in student activity fee money to fund the latest improvements, aimed at adding to the diversity of plants in the area and providing additional habitat for birds and insects. The trees are 4 to 10 feet tall.

The Ecology Club worked with groundskeeper and naturalist Ken Schaefer, who has been with the school about 22 years and is in charge of caring for the college's outdoor environment.