"Wild Things" in Chicago.

On Saturday, February 7, I attended a conference at the University of Illinois in Chicago called "Wild Things". It was put on by an organization called "Chicago Wilderness". (The name of the organization sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? I think it expresses more hope than fact.) This is a biannual event for profession property managers in the forest preserves, parks, and other protected areas of the Chicago area, volunteers who get involved with those protected areas, and other Chicago area people who enjoy nature and the outdoors.

Some of my friends from the ENSBC were also there. Joel Greenberg was there signing copies of his latest book.

There were many interesting talks at this conference. The ones I attended were scientific talks on the ecology of northeastern Illinois and on ecological restoration. I enjoyed every one I attended and wished I could have attended more.

Everything at the conference went quite smoothly, considering that it all must have been done on a shoestring, given the low registration fee for the conference.

This was the second Wild Things conference. The first was held two years ago. I found out about that one too late to attend, so I have been looking forward to this one for two years. I hope they do it again some time.