Volunteers - Forest Preserve District of Kane County

06/18/2026

Thank you to the Kane County Mounted Rangers for helping make this week's Animal Adventures Camp a blast.

06/12/2026

We want to send our thanks to all who came out to the Plug-Planting Pop-up event on Tuesday!

An assortment of roughly 1,200 forbs and grasses were provided by the District to help diversify a hilltop prairie at Lake Run Forest Preserve. The planting aligned with our regularly scheduled workday led by steward Jeff Hedrich who just so happens to have reached a milestone of 5,000 service hours dedicated to the preserve! Thank you, Jeff!

Scouts from Batavia Troop 21, stewards, and volunteers from throughout the county faced the muggy weather to get the job done.

Thanks again to everyone who came out and got their hands dirty for this special event - follow us and stay tuned for more pop-up plantings in the coming weeks!😉

06/10/2026

Our staff and volunteers were busy this spring removing invasive brush, hand-pulling garlic mustard and capturing beautiful shots of the preserves! Check out the May recap. 🌱

For more information, or to get involved, visit www.kaneforest.com/volunteer.

06/09/2026

Volunteers partner with government agencies and nonprofits to make Kane County's open spaces even better.

Find out how local volunteers are developing a more sustainable future for the community.

06/05/2026

When invasive brush encroaches upon oaks and other native trees, these majestic elders are put to the test in a competition for sunlight, nutrients and water. ☀️🌧️

In winter and spring, our volunteer stewards prioritize clearing both invasives and aggressive natives around mature oaks to ensure the success of their lineage.

To fill in large swathes of cleared area, volunteers then spread native seed provided from the District, or as collected from their assigned forest preserves. While the results are not immediate, over time, we see areas with limited biodiversity return to a much healthier state.

Way to go, volunteers! Keep up the amazing work.🌳👍

Pictured is our Dick Young FP [North] crew working to clear honeysuckle from around a bur oak.

For more information, or to get involved, visit www.kaneforest.com/volunteer.

📸: Terri Hoehne

06/04/2026

Join District staff and volunteers for a pop-up plug planting at Lake Run Forest Preserve!

Next Tuesday, June 9th from 9 a.m. until Noon we will be planting an array of natives to help improve biodiversity and boost aesthetics of the hillside prairie near the parking lot. Tools, plants, and refreshments will be supplied, but make sure to dress for the weather. We will be out there getting our hands dirty come rain or shine! Parking is limited at this preserve so carpooling is encouraged.

Can't make the event? Regular restoration workdays are hosted at Lake Run Forest Preserve the second and fourth Tuesday of almost every month. A full list of upcoming events is available here:https://kaneforest.com/upload/VolunteerWorkdays.pdf

For questions about this event please reach out to the Stewardship Specialist at [email protected]. No registration is necessary, but let us know if you plan on tagging along!

06/03/2026

Our Spring 2026 Volunteer View newsletter is now available! 🍃

Take a few minutes to catch up on volunteer news, recent accomplishments, upcoming opportunities, and the incredible work being done across the Forest Preserve District of Kane County.

Thank you to every volunteer who helps make our preserves welcoming, healthy, and inspiring places for all.

📚 Check out the latest issue here:

Spring 2026 Volunteer Newsletter

05/28/2026

We'd like to thank Troop & Pack 38 from Elgin for their help being the pollution solution at Poplar Creek Forest Preserve on Saturday!

This group of families and scouts came out on their holiday weekend and removed over 1,000 POUNDS of trash from this natural area. This area has been used for illegal dumping, so we found construction materials, bags of clothing, food wrappers, and just about everything you could imagine.

Our Operations team assisted with a dump truck to haul away all the debris, and now this native area will have a chance to recover and grow.

Each month you can join staff and volunteers and become the pollution solution as we visit preserves north, central and south cleaning up nature and our Fox River watershed!

To learn more about the group and how to participate, contact Robb Cleave at [email protected] or 630-762-2741.

12/22/2025

The District welcomes Sara Simon as our newest volunteer co-steward of Blackberry Maples Forest Preserve! 👏 To formally introduce her, we've asked Sara to share her origin story of how she became involved in natural resource management:

"I got into restoration volunteering through my love for native plant gardening. I wanted to learn more about native plants, so I enrolled in some courses at Morton Arboretum, including their natural areas conservation training (N-ACT) program.

When it was time to put what we learned into practice, I really wanted to work in my local community, so I started volunteering at restoration workdays with the Forest Preserve District. The community of people is so positive, kind, and passionate that I continued to volunteer after completing the N-ACT program.

I have met so many wonderful mentors and friends through restoration work, and I also love that you can actively see the difference you are making in a tangible way! I'm looking forward to many more years volunteering as a steward and sharing everything I have learned!"

Welcome to the team, Sara! You can support Sara and Mike's work at an upcoming Blackberry Maples workday. Our restoration workday schedule can be found at www.kaneforest.com/volunteer.