This summer, six Audubon Great Lakes’ Habitat Restoration Interns spent Chicago’s warmest days learning about conservation and restoration, and putting their newfound knowledge to work by restoring bird habitat on the city’s southwest side. For 16 weeks each summer, interns are out on Forest Preserves of Cook County and Chicago Park District land, learning about and helping to manage and restore the coastal wetlands and grasslands that birds need. Significant progress was made to remove invasive vegetation and re-introduced native plants and seeds to create a more diverse ecosystem. They took courses to learn proper methods and techniques and receive certification to assist them in their future careers. Since launching in 2014, 80 percent of Restoration Interns have moved into jobs in environmental and conservation-related fields.
This year, Habitat Restoration Interns helped restore Chicago’s natural areas for the benefit of birds and people with a big impact including 113+ acres of natural areas enhanced or restored, 1,200+ hours of ecological restoration, 260+ hours of field-based trainings and certifications and 500+ pounds of Invasive plants/plant material removed! |
