By all appearances, Lake Michigan is a steady, benevolent presence. An anchor for the northeastern corner of Illinois. The
invincible resource that Chicago and its suburbs, not to mention other communities in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, are built around.

Yet Lake Michigan is not invincible. And Fort Sheridan
Forest Preserve in Lake Forest, Illinois has a front-row view.

Guests:

Jim Anderson, retired director of natural resources, Lake County Forest Preserves

Pati Vitt, director of natural resources, Lake County Forest Preserves

Forest Preserves Mentioned:

• Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve (Lake Forest)


• Grant Woods Forest Preserve (Ingleside)


• Openlands Lakeshore Preserve (Lake Forest)


• Spring Bluff Forest Preserve (Winthrop Harbor)

Links and Sources Mentioned:

• 100-Year Vision for Lake County


• “A Battle Between a Great City and a Great Lake,” Dan Egan, The New York Times


• Base Realignment and Closure Commission


• Chiwaukee Prairie–Illinois Beach Lake Plain


• City of Chicago Department of Water Management


• Cornell Lab of Ornithology


• “Drought Continues in Northern Illinois,” Dr. Trent Ford, Illinois
  State Climatologist Blog


• Great Lakes Commission


• Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory


• Horizons (Fall 2019)


• Illinois Beach State Park


• Illinois Coastal Management Program


• Illinois Department of Natural Resources


• International Union for Conservation of Nature


• Jean and John Greene Nature Preserve


• Jenny Whidden (Daily Herald)


• Lake Forest Open Lands Association


• Monty and Rose


• Openlands


• Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest Preserves


• Ramsar Convention


• Road Map to 2025


• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District


• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

***

If you like what the forest preserves do for you, please consider donating to the Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest Preserves’ endowment campaign. Your gift will help provide a perpetual, dependable funding source and ensure every acre of habitat we restore remains ecologically healthy. Learn more and give at LCFPD.org/donate.

Have questions or comments? Send them to WordsOfTheWoods@LCFPD.org.

This episode of Words of the Woods was written, hosted and produced by Brett Peto, Environmental Communications Specialist at the Lake County Forest Preserves.

Featuring research and expertise from Jim Anderson, Diana Dretske, Dan Egan, Dr. Trent Ford and Dr. Pati Vitt. Script editing by Diana Dretske, Alyssa Firkus, Gary Glowacki, Kevin Kleinjan, Ty Kovach, Jeanna Martinucci, Kim Mikus, Rebekah Snyder, Matt Ueltzen and Pati Vitt. Music and sound effects from Storyblocks. Audio editing and mixing by Brett Peto. Episode cover art © Jeff Goldberg.

Words of the Woods is a production of the Lake County Forest Preserves in Libertyville, Illinois.