Citizens for Conservation

Saving Living Space for Living Things

Citizens for Conservation (CFC) is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment that once covered northeastern Illinois. CFC is based in Barrington, Illinois where we diligently work to restore and maintain over 777 acres across 14 separate nearby locations.

Thanks to many volunteers with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests who give their time, as well as the generosity of many financial donors, we’re actively restoring the beauty and biodiversity of our land for generations to come. If you are inspired by what we do, please join us. We welcome you to get to know us better, as well as help us make the world around us a little better.

Announcements

CFC's Mission: To Protect, Educate and Restore

CFC protects natural areas.

Protect

CFC protects natural areas. We led the initiative to protect over 3200 acres of public land in the Barrington, Illinois area. Years of planning, urging, and negotiating resulted in the creation of four new forest preserves: Ela Marsh, Fox River Preserve and Marina, Grassy Lake Preserve and Baker's Lake Younghusband Prairie. CFC itself owns fourteen nature preserves encompassing 777 acres. Generous donors gave us much of   this land, but CFC has purchased over 411 acres through fundraising campaigns.

CFC educates the community about natural resources and good environmental practices

Educate

CFC educates the community about  natural resources and good environmental practices. Hundreds of people have attended our adult education programs on diverse subjects. Our award-winning Youth Education classes help children discover nature and develop their interest in the outdoors. Our preserves are open to members and donors, and we provide tours and bird watching for the public. CFC can approve volunteer hours for high school National Honor Society membership or community service programs. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Eagle Scouts implement CFC projects under our guidance.

CFC restores native plant communities

Restore

CFC restores native plant communities — prairie, oak savanna and wetland. Our prairie restoration successes have been the subject of articles in two British publications, and our floating island installations and grassland bird restoration efforts have been featured in two nationally broadcast TV programs. Restoration helps protect and perpetuate the diverse indigenous species of plants and animals that give our communities their special value. Acting as stewards of the land, we transplant wildflowers, remove weeds, clear brush, collect and sow seed, and conduct controlled burns.