patching...
Breaking: Police Charge Evanston Teen in Skokie Shooting »
Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

Cook County Forest Preserve

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Patch Employees Wield Saws and Loppers During Volunteer Day

Patch staff volunteer in the community five times a year as part of our Give 5 program. Wednesday we removed invasive buckthorn trees from the Skokie Lagoons.

As Patch editors and advertising reps, we're accustomed to brandishing pens, paper and iPhones. But Wednesday morning you could find us wielding — some for the first time — hand saws and loppers as we cut and then burned buckthorn trees at the Skokie Lagoons in Winnetka. Our excellent leader was Daniel Kielson, a volunteer with the Cook County Forest Preserve and president of Backyard Nature Center, who explained to us that buckthorn are an invasive species that can take over an area and choke out the native plants. Patch employees volunteer in the communities we cover five times a year as part of our Give 5 program. If you know of a nonprofit that would like our help, please let your local editor know.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Cook County Readies 2012 Picnic Permits

Permits will be available to purchase online and in person Tuesday.

With winter setting in it might be hard to imagine rolling out the wicker basket and gathering the family for a picnic. But to perhaps get in the gingham mood, you might consider picking up a Cook County Forest Preserve Picnic Permit Tuesday.  Permits officially go on sale Jan. 3, and can be purchased online, or in-person at the Forest Preserve District of Cook County General Headquarters, 536 N. Harlem Avenue, River Forest. Earlier: For Now, a River Bank Runs Through a Niles Forest Preserve Trail More than one million people purchased the slip in 2011, with peak sales occurring within the first week, according to a press release from the Forest Preserve. "On the first day of permit sales we sell about 13 percent of what we sell the whole …

Got a Hot Tip?