Events

As members of Wild Ones, we appreciate how our lives are enriched by having Nature close-by. This program will challenge us to capture the spirit of our personal landscape and to bring more nature into it. Insects, and the plants they depend on, keep the world running. Keystone plants nurture numerous insects and create sustainable landscapes. What keystone plants belong in our landscape? What maintenance efforts will keep that ecosystem flourishing? How can we create greater diversity of bees, butterflies, and moths? Lastly, we'll learn to have faith in a seed, understand how plants migrate, and know that when we plant that seed, Nature will come! Let’s have fun and bloom where we’re planted!

Alan Branhagen is Executive Director of the Natural Land Institute (NLI) in Rockford, Illinois, one of our nation's first land trusts. Founder, George Fell, pioneered the concept of legally protected nature preserves, beginning 60 years ago with the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. Today NLI is responsible for protecting over 18,000 acres of natural land, mainly in Northern Illinois.