Openlands

08/07/2026

Let’s go on a run! 🏃🏃🏃 This summer, runners are crisscrossing their neighborhoods while training for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon—including 13 running on behalf of Openlands’ mission.

While runners can train on a treadmill, training outdoors provides the perfect opportunity to get outside and explore. It is an opportunity to find new natural areas, visit cherished spots, and take advantage of shady paths on a hot summer day.

Kerl LaJeune, Openlands Board Member, shared some of his favorite places to train for marathons. As an RRCA certified marathon coach, Kerl knows the best spots to train in the Chicago region.

Explore the best places to run in Chicagoland: https://openlands.org/2026/07/29/chicago-marathon-training-best-places-to-run-in-chicago-and-beyond/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=comms-gen-26&utm_content=8-5-marathon-blog

08/06/2026

Save the date for the Openlands 2026 Annual Luncheon, where we unite the conservation community around our luncheon theme, "From the Ground Up."

This theme resonates at a critical juncture for our region. It emphasizes the importance of communal support—just as the intricate networks of trees and fungi nurture each other in one ecosystem, we too can find support in one another. It also highlights the richness that diversity brings, reminding us that the most vibrant environments are those that embrace variety and community. At heart, this theme is about taking cues from nature.

Last year, we hosted over 700 influential figures, including elected officials, civic and environmental leaders, and community partners. This year’s lineup promises another extraordinary gathering you won't want to miss.

Your generous support advances vital conservation efforts across our region. Purchase your sponsorships and tickets today: https://ow.ly/jYaV50ZxeIv

08/04/2026

Speaking up for friends that cannot! 🐦‍⬛ Thank you to Chicago Architecture Center and Studio Gang for helping organize a fantastic, educational tour about design solutions that protect migratory birds. Chicago alders and their staff learned about the economics, design, and labor that protect thousands of birds a year.

Special thank you to Alderwoman Maria Hadden, Alderman Brian Hopkins, and 30th Ward Alderwoman Ruth Cruz for being champions of bird safe design requirements! As the primary sponsors on a new mandatory bird-friendly building ordinance here in Chicago, these alders are helping make our city safer for wildlife.

Visit “Flyaway City: Architecture for a Flourishing Ecosystem” yourself! This inspiring new exhibition, designed and co-curated by Studio Gang in collaboration with the CAC, aims to catalyze positive change on making cities safer and more welcoming for birds and diverse wildlife.

While you’re there, visit the companion exhibition, “Chicago’s Living Habitat.” Co-curated by Openlands, this exhibition invites visitors to experience the landscapes that sustain life across our region, and to see their role in shaping its future.

Both exhibitions are open now through Jan 2027. Get your tickets today: https://ow.ly/ft5K50ZwlJj

07/29/2026

IN THE NEWS: “Planning is fundamentally about shaping the future with intention, not simply reacting to the next proposal,” writes Sara Egan, Openlands' Director of Conservation Planning, in her op-ed to Green Building & Design Magazine.

Sara shares how natural lands are often treated as vacant space awaiting development, when these places are vital to people’s well-being.

“The choices being made now will determine whether this region grows in a coordinated and sustainable way or continues down a path where cumulative impacts outpace the systems meant to manage them.”

Photo of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Read the full op-ed here:

A leader at Openlands shares how natural lands are often treated as vacant space for development, when they are vital to people’s well-being.

07/29/2026

On July 10th, the U.S. Department of the Interior removed habitat destruction from the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ERA). One week later, two more regulatory changes were made. The first eliminated the automatic protections against killing, trapping, and other prohibited forms of “take” under the “Blanket Rule,” which provided threatened species the same protections as endangered species. The second allows “economic considerations” to overrule designations of “critical habitat.”

Both of these additional changes further imperil endangered species by leaving threatened species increasingly vulnerable and allowing economic interests to greatly influence decisions on critical habitat.

Yesterday was World Nature Conservation Day. At Openlands, we believe lasting conservation begins with the land. Species do not survive in isolation; they depend on healthy, connected ecosystems. Protecting those systems is essential to conserving the extraordinary natural heritage we all share. Read our full statement here: https://ow.ly/iLzk50ZunqZ

07/22/2026

🌿Become a Sponsor of the 2026 Openlands Annual Luncheon

Join nearly 1,000 civic, corporate, and community leaders on October 21 as we celebrate conservation, community, and the power of partnership.

Your sponsorship helps protect the landscapes, waterways, and neighborhoods that make our region healthier and more resilient. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities: https://ow.ly/aFAr50ZrrxP

07/21/2026

IN THE NEWS: Sam Chavez, Openlands' Director of Restoration, and Sara Egan, Openlands' Director of Conservation Planning, spoke with Christiana Freitag for The Chicago Tribune about the warehouses, distribution centers, and data centers encroaching on the landscape surrounding U.S. Forest Service - Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

Chavez explained that the land surrounding protected areas is often just as important as the preserves themselves. These transitional zones help buffer wildlife habitat from nearby development, a concept ecologists refer to as the “edge effect.”

“This is one of the few places in Illinois where there’s a vision to put the prairie landscape back at a large scale,” Chavez said. “Having small fragments is not necessarily going to maintain the diversity that you need.”

Read the full article in The Chicago Tribune here: https://ow.ly/ppat50ZqVY6

07/20/2026

Stigmas of Sustainability is a panel conversation about the barriers that can make sustainability feel out of reach, unfamiliar, or even intimidating.

Hosted by the The Institute of Cultural Affairs USA and featuring Gerardo Trujillo, Openlands' Landscape Specialist, and Tom Ebeling, Openlands' Director of Forestry, the session brings together perspectives from people working at the intersection of culture, access, and everyday environmental action.

This event is (Bring Your Own Mug). Get your tickets today: https://ow.ly/bHTH50Zqb9U

This event is part of Chicago Climate Week (ChiCW). From July 18th-25th, ChiCW is a shared moment connecting and amplifying climate action across Chicagoland and the Midwest. Openlands is hosting a slate of events during ChiCW, including:
- Tour & Talk: Big Marsh Park (Saturday, July 18th)
- How to Care for Trees in Your Neighborhood (Monday, July 20th)
- Eugene Field Park Tree Walk (Thursday, July 23rd)
- Green Schoolyard Tour in South Shore (Friday, July 24th)
Learn more about ChiCW and register for Openlands' events: https://ow.ly/427l50Zqb9T

07/20/2026

Congratulations to our 24 new TreeKeepers! This summer, they learned how to prune, mulch, plant, and identify trees in our 2026 Spanish TreeKeepers Course.

Thank you to all of our instructors, our host partner Latinos Progresando and all of our incredible new TreeKeepers.

Learn more about our TreeKeepers Courses in English and Spanish, and how you can get involved: https://ow.ly/lH5a50Zq7FE