Ten years into the LaBagh Woods Project, hundreds of Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC) volunteers continue to do the heavy lifting required to replace invasive plant species with native shrubs, funded by your donations to COS. The restoration helps ensure LaBagh remains an oasis for migratory birds—and all flora and fauna that call LaBagh their home.

No matter the season or temperature (within reason!), volunteers gear up to prepare the 60 acres of forest preserve for planting native shrubs and seeding native herbaceous plants and grasses. Additional projects, including shrub and herbaceous seed collection, trail maintenance to define hiking areas, and trash collection to protect wildlife, support the overall habitat restoration.

Seven people in winter gear and holding axes and pruning shears near or watching a bonfire of cut branches. The ground is lightly snow-covered.

From October to March, volunteers cut and burn buckthorn—one of the most aggressive invasive species—that out-competes native plants for resources, alters the health of the soil, and degrades wildlife habitat. Specially certified volunteers follow up with a herbicide application on the cut stumps. The process to remove a stand of buckthorn could take up to three years of continual maintenance.

Woman in jacket and work gloves sprinkling seeds from a bag on leaf-covered ground near a tree.

In March, volunteers seeded areas of LaBagh Woods where buckthorn had been successfully removed in prior years to fortify and create an herbaceous layer for biodiversity, habitat and soil health.

Seeds are collected up and down the North Branch of the Chicago River, sorted and shared among the preserves. Native Seeds include spring ephemerals, grasses, sedges and wild flowers.

A man and a woman in jackets and hats digging a hole in a grassy area next to fencing that will protect the new shrub from deer.

When spring sprung this year, volunteers were ready for the fan favorite of planting native shrubs that were two years in the making at our native plant nursery.

Volunteers built enclosures to protect the new shrubs from browsing deer. This year, they planted, mulched and watered 20 Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) to create thickets for wildlife, including migratory birds.

The LaBagh Woods Project team is always looking for volunteers for our workdays. Those interested may contact labaghvolunteers@gmail.com for more information. Check us out on Instagram @labaghvolunteers!

LaBagh Woods Project Update: The Urban Oasis