Happy September! Can you believe that the summer is almost over? Birding at the Quarries – This Sunday! It’s almost time! This Sunday, September 13th marks the date for our special Birding at the Quarries event. Join us at the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area to learn about native birds, basic identification, and other birding facts! No experience is necessary – all backgrounds and experience levels are welcome to join us. Register on our website here. We will be led by

Can you believe it’s already August? We hope you’ve been staying dry through all of this rain… Birding at the Quarries – Free Event To start, we’d like to invite you to learn about native birds with us for a free birding event on Sunday, September 13th, 2026! Alyssa Syzmanski, Naturalist, will be leading the discussion at the TWWT Nature Education Center. After the classroom portion of the event, we will go on a walk around the Quarries to apply our new knowledge and look for

Happy July! We hope you had a great, flood-free Independence Day weekend. Eagle Scout Project Highlights We want to start by highlighting two awesome Eagle Scout projects recently completed by local Scouts! Both projects support local wildlife and enhance natural opportunities at the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area (HQRA) through the installation of safe, functional habitat. If you aren’t familiar with Scouting America and/or the Eagle Scout program, “Eagle Scout” is the hi

Happy June! We hope you’ve been staying cool, the summer heat is certainly upon us! Last Quarry Care for 2025-26 The last Quarry Care of the 2025-26 season is coming up this weekend on Saturday, June 13th from 9AM to 12PM! If you’re free, we’d love for you to join us at the Lemont Heritage Quarries Recreation Area for a fun day of invasive species removal. We will be changing things up a bit, targeting invasive herbaceous species like burdock instead of our usual woody plant

Happy April! It’s Earth Day month… Got any conservation plans? April Quarry Care - Planting! For our April Quarry Care date (Saturday, April 11th), we will be planting a variety of native shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses in honor of Earth Day. These species beautify the Quarries and will provide a sustainable, long-lasting source of food for wildlife once mature. Other ecosystem benefits include erosion control, improved water filtration, and increased local biodiversity. We

Happy March! It feels like Spring is in the air! Quarry Care Burn Day – 14 March Our March Quarry Care date is coming up this Saturday, March 14th from 9AM to 12PM. If you haven’t already, register online to join us in the ecological stewardship of the Lemont Heritage Quarries Recreation Area. We will continue working on brush pile burns at a recently cleared section of quarry shoreline and woodland (weather permitting). If it is too wet, we will work on woody invasive remova

Happy February! We hope you’ve been able to stay warm this past month. Wild Things Conference We want to start by highlighting Wild Things, a “celebration of nature, wildlife, ecosystem restoration, birding, botanizing, networking, and discovery – from the lowly mushroom to the high-flying falcon.” Basically, it’s a conference for nature lovers! This year’s Wild Things took place in O’Fallon, IL for the very first time (it’s usually around Chicagoland). TWWT even had the oppo

Happy New Year! We hope your 2026 has been off to a great start. Tree Survey Update In 2025, we began a native tree and shrub survey at the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area (HQRA). We covered the western half of the HQRA, surveying more than 2,500 native trees, and will continue working on the eastern half in 2026. The woodland as a whole is quite young, so native mature trees are not common at the quarries. The HQRA was clear-cut for quarrying work in the early-mid 1800s.

We hope you’ve been staying warm this holiday season. November Quarry Care - Recap Join us for Quarry Care on December 13th, 2025, or January 10, 2026! We will be clearing woody invasive species and, weather permitting, burning brush piles. We would appreciate your support greatly! Our last Quarry Care was on November 8, 2025. We broadcasted native seed and were joined by staff from the Forest Preserves of Cook County for a special presentation on prescribed burns. Over 40

We hope you’ve been having a good autumn! October Quarry Care - Recap Last month, we held a special Fishing & Lake Management Quarry Care date with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Fisheries! We were led by Frank Sladek, Urban and Community Fishing Program Coordinator at the IDNR. Participants caught over 70 fish (bluegill, black crappie, and largemouth bass). Fish populations in The Forge Quarry, Great Lakes Quarry, and Icebox Quarry are all imbalanced d

Quarry Care (Oct 11) - Lakes Management To begin, we would like to invite you to the first Quarry Care of the 2025/26 season, taking place on October 11, 2025, from 9AM to 12PM! This will be a special session with Frank Sladek, Urban and Community Fishing Program Coordinator at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Participants will learn about lake management, receive fishing instruction, and have the opportunity to catch and tag fish in The Forge Quarry. Registrat

The summer is winding down, but that doesn’t mean the fun is over! Wild Senna at the HQRA To start, we want to introduce you to a special member of the legume family - wild senna (aka, American senna, Senna hebecarpa). These unique wildflowers are large, long-lived perennial species with showy yellow flowers and fern-like compound leaflets. Mature plants can reach up to 6 feet tall! The species is considered endangered or threatened in some Northeastern states, like Massachus

Hi friends, the summer is going fast! Weeds to Seeds Education Pavilion As you may recall, we started working on the Weeds to Seeds Education Pavilion project at the Quarries a little over a year ago. The pavilion is a gift to the people of Lemont and all visitors to the Heritage Quarries. Thanks to the support of generous benefactors like Lemont Junior Women’s Club, The Forge Lemont, and many individual donors, we were recently able to construct and dedicate the pavilion!