Current headlines

The Forest Preserve's Board of Commissioners approved a balanced 2025 budget on Nov. 14. The spending plan includes a 27% drop in the property tax rate and funding for operations, maintenance, land acquisition and preserve improvement projects.

This map is updated daily as another way to notify the public when a prescribed burn is being conducted.

Forest Preserve police are reminding visitors to lock their vehicles and to leave valuables at home as they plan their nature outings. 

Are you enthusiastic? Do you have a passion for nature and love to make people smile? If so, consider applying to portray the Forest Preserve's furry mascot, Willy Woodchuck, at programs and events. 

Barbara Collins, a Bolingbrook retiree, turned to nature and her history with plants to find a new purpose in life. 

Renovations are progressing at Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook and the building is scheduled to reopen to the public in the first quarter of 2025. 

Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook is closed for extensive renovations. In addition to the building being closed, the site's parking lot, shelter/pavilion and nature trail also are closed. 

Ecologist Barbara Sherwood said she almost cried when she spied a Bombus affinis, the federally endangered rusty-patched bumblebee, in a Des Plaines River Valley preserve this summer.

The Nature Foundation of Will County presented a $393,450 check to the Forest Preserve Board on Sept. 12. The donation check and fundraiser celebrate a decade of work by the Foundation to support the Forest Preserve's mission. 

A new kayak rental station is available for public use at Lake Chaminwood Preserve in Channahon. Patrons can download the Rent.Fun app to pay for the kayaks, which include paddles and life vests. The cost is $25 for the first two hours and $15 for each additional hour.