The Lake County Forest Preserves and two of its volunteers have earned national awards. 

The National Association of County Park and Recreation Officials (NACPRO) comprises 122 park and special recreation districts from across the country, of which the Lake County Forest Preserves is a member organization. The Association issued the awards. 

"We're proud of the dedicated work our staff and volunteers do on a consistent basis," said Angelo Kyle, president of the Lake County Forest Preserves. "We are deeply grateful that they are being recognized for their efforts by such a prestigious organization." 

Outstanding Volunteer
Lake Villa residents Joyce and George Proper were awarded the Outstanding Volunteer award. The couple has volunteered for decades and collectively donated more than 10,000 hours in the last 15 years alone. They serve as preserve stewards at Grant Woods Forest Preserve in Ingleside, where they led thousands of workdays to restore natural areas at the preserve and encouraged and trained other volunteers in native plant identification, invasive species management, seed collection and planting. 

Kyle presented the Propers with a proclamation last week that honored them for receiving the national award. "They were instrumental in improving natural areas at the 1,200-acre Grant Woods preserve, one of the largest in the District, by enriching the biological diversity through carefully documented restoration and plant introductions," the proclamation says. The couple has worked tirelessly to restore the preserve which has some of the highest habitat diversity in the District, including prairies, oak woodlands sedge meadows, ravines and bogs. A third of the preserve is dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve in recognition of its high quality natural areas. 

The Propers have monitored rare plants for many years, especially lady slipper orchids, sundrops, vetches and hepatica, with data collection and sharing to support local, regional and global analysis. "We just love Grant Woods and we enjoy helping to make it even more beautiful," said Joyce Proper, who grew up exploring the grounds of the preserve.

She bakes cookies to thank and entice volunteers to return. Over the years the couple regularly helped with volunteer workdays at Rollins Savanna, Marl Flat, Independence Grove and the Native Seed Nursery. Joyce was a longtime volunteer with the Plants of Concern program, monitoring rare plants at Grant Woods. The data is held by the Chicago Botanic Garden. The results help the Forest Preserves understand regional trends in management needs. 

Conservation 
The Growing Through Change project at Grant Woods Forest Preserve earned the Conservation Award. The award recognizes an exceptional effort to acquire, restore, preserve, operate or develop unique or significant conservation and natural areas or programs. The Lake County Forest Preserves has launched a research project at Grant Woods to restore 180 acres of former farmland within the preserve using a climate-adapted, regionally sourced native seed mix. 

The project is supported by grants through the Preservation Foundation, the charitable partner of the Lake County Forest Preserves. These include a $1.1 million private donation and a $216,000 grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society Climate Adaptation Fund, which is made possible through the generous support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. 

The goal of the project is to learn how to restore resilient native landscapes with plants that can withstand a shifting climate. The project also engages seed producers, conservation organizations, neighbors, volunteers, and landowners to build and sustain a demand for climate-adapted seed. Illinois' climate is predicted to be similar to Oklahoma's by the year 2050 and that of Texas by 2080, said Pati Vitt, manager of restoration ecology at the Lake County Forest Preserves. "The project will demonstrate if adaptability strategies using source-identified seeds from more southern and distant regions, coupled with hydrological restoration, are as successful or more successful than standard sourcing strategies."
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Courtesy of Lake County Forest Preserves
Angelo Kyle, president of the Lake County Forest Preserves, presents a proclamation honoring George and Joyce Proper for receiving a national award recognizing their volunteer efforts. 


Courtesy of Lake County Forest Preserves
A restoration project at Grant Woods Forest Preserve in Ingleside earned a national conservation award.