November 2025 Newsletter

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 native species were seeded! If you haven’t joined us for Quarry Care before, it is a monthly volunteer stewardship program dedicated to environmental restoration and stewardship at the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area.

Adopt-a-Trail Program

We wanted to start off by highlighting some of our great Adopt-a-Trail partners from this past year! Volunteers pick a section of trail (or create their own if they wish) and steward it for the year by clearing fallen branches, cutting back invasive species, removing litter, and performing other similar maintenance activities. TWWT provides hand tools and other support for volunteers.

The first group that we want to thank is the Cub Scouts of Troop 249. The kids may be young, but they’re making a big impact at the Quarries! They’ve been stewarding a section of trails on the east side of Great Lakes Quarry since this spring.

We would also like to thank a local father-son duo for their work on two sections of the single-track trails over the last year. Working together, they put in nearly 30 hours of volunteer work from October 2024 through October 2025.

We maintain nearly 12 miles of trails at the quarries, so there’s plenty of opportunity for more groups to get involved. Reach out if you’re interested!

Winter Maintenance Work

Plants may be dormant in winter, but this is still an important season for ecological work. TWWT will continue invasive species control, focusing on removing woody species such as buckthorns, bush honeysuckles, and tree-of-heaven. Herbaceous species are dormant at this time of year, making it easy to locate and spot even the smallest woody invasives. We will also be burning brush piles to clear plant debris and recycle nutrients for the coming spring.

Thank you for all of your continued support.