"Saving Living Space for Living Things" through protection, restoration and stewardship of land, conservation of natural resources, and education.

We depend on Chicagoland volunteers to work on Barrington-area properties that are owned by CFC or by other local conservation entities, such as the Forest Preserve Districts of Lake or Cook Counties. Volunteers remove weeds, gather seeds of native prairie plants, perform prescribed burns, sow seeds, and clear European buckthorn and other invasive plants, brush or trees. These invasive alien plants choke out the native vegetation, often with a loss of diversity and native animal species. Seasonal monitoring of plant and animal life, nature education for children and adults, a spring plant sale, special events, computer and office work round out our schedule.

We invite you to become a member of CFC. If you are interested, please print our membership form and mail it to us (can be opened with the free PDF viewer). We will thank you for it! CFC also needs paid interns to work (and learn) during the summer months. See About CFC for more information about what we do and why we need you! Feel free to contact us at any time.

On June 8th, approximately 60 members of the Fontana Garden Club, from Fontana, Wisconsin visited CFC for a presentation and tour of CFC's restoration at our main property, Flint Creek Savanna. Dodging the ever-present rains of late spring, a part of the group can be seen here, with CFC tour guide Carol Hogan pointing out prairie dropseed and other native plants in our seed propogation bins. Our headquarters, the farmhouse, can be seen behind them.

Our Adventure in Nature classes for kids continue all summer, check out our calendar for details.

CFC's 13th annual plant sale was a success, with beautiful weather helping to draw a steady stream of shoppers. If you wanted a tree or shrub but didn't pre-order, keep your eye out for our annual fall tree and shrub sale.

We meet at the office at 459 West IL Rt 22 (the farmhouse across from Good Shepherd Hospital) and carpool or walk to the work site, which varies from week to week. View the mapquest link. CAUTION - Google maps does not currently recognize this address correctly. We're on the south side of Highway 22, west of 59, east of Kelsey Road. If you get there late, look at the blackboard on the shed for the location of that day's worksite. Maps are available in the foyer of the farmhouse, or print out our map.

Summer is primarily for planting and weeding. Workdays are Thursday and Saturday, 9-11 AM. Sometimes we get wet and/or muddy working in the wetlands, so be dressed for a variety of possibilities, particularly with footwear, although there's often more than one task so we can accomodate some situations. Fall will bring the critical seed-collecting, with extra work days. Details will follow as we approach Autumn.

CFC is a member of Chicago Wilderness, the IL Environmental Council, Healthier Barrington Project, the Chicago Region Land Conservation Coalition, the Flint Creek Watershed Partnership, and the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). We also meet the LTA Land Trust Standards and Practices; the ethical and technical guidelines for the responsible operation of a land trust.