Friends of the Forest Preserves

The 70,000 acres of forest preserves in Cook County offer unrivaled physical, intellectual and creative team building experiences that invigorate company morale and performance. Employees renew a sense of partnership and determination as they work together to combat aggressive species and return these ancient oak savannas, prairies and wetlands to their native, healthy state.

If you are representing a business and would like to set up an event for your employees, please fill out this brief questionnaire.

“This is a great way to build collaboration between various teams in our company while giving back with our time and hard work. It is a great outdoor event run by a talented team of experts that educated us on conditions and challenges they encounter while protecting and maintaining the forest preserves.” – Valerie Baxa, Vice President – Environmental, First Industrial Realty Trust

In-person Experiences

The day begins and ends outside, in the heart of one of the county’s unique forest preserves. We’ll help you find the perfect location, depending on where your corporate offices are or where your employees live, the size of your group, and the season. Led by members of our Conservation Corps and Engagement Team, participants learn about the history of the preserves and unique qualities of the site in which they’re standing. Participants also learn that Cook County’s forest preserves contain some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world – comparable to the rainforests of the Southern Hemisphere – and include rare flora and fauna including the eastern prairie white fringed orchid, river otters, and sandhill cranes.

A typical day includes using bow saws and loppers to remove European buckthorn, a persistent and aggressive plant that is choking the life out of the native, 200-year-old oaks. Teams drag the trees over to roaring brush piles to burn on site as participants help crew members tend the fire. To witness the sunlight once again making its way to the forest preserve floor, nourishing native plants and animals, is incredibly rewarding.

Corporate Team Building Days are offered nearly year-round, with each season providing its own wonder. Depending on the month, participants might collect and spread seed of native plants or cut and burn aggressive shrubs like Buckthorn. In the springtime, they might remove weeds such as garlic mustard, another foreign species that can take over. Winter is, perhaps surprisingly, one of the more optimal times. That’s because there are few bugs and the brush piles keep everyone toasty!

“A company that offers a Corporate Team Building Day to their employees demonstrates great respect for the environment and for their employees. Not only are the forest preserves healthier, but the day is also an opportunity for folks to get outside, be active, and enjoy nature. That’s really something special.” – Ilana Federman, Associate Director of Development and Communications, Friends of the Forest Preserves

The Benefits of Team Building

We design the employee activities to promote discipline, problem solving and productivity. Specifically, the team building activities improve:

• Decision-making – Working in close proximity toward a defined goal in a new situation with unfamiliar tools requires concentration and establishing priorities and objectives.
• Communication – Because these are new tasks, team members must listen closely to one another. They discuss ideas and suggestions and brainstorm the best solution.
• Motivation – Each member is committed to the success of the team. They support and encourage one another to reach shared goals.
• Trust – Team members rely on each other in entirely new ways. This builds confidence and assurance about their shared and individual strengths.

“Not only can you see your results, but working in the forest preserves gives me a chance to rub elbows with people from my company that I don’t normally see.” – Jeff Blackburn, Chairman of the Board, Assurance Agency, Ltd.

A Chance to Give Back to the Community

Ecologists estimate that nearly two-thirds of the forest preserves in Cook County are overrun by non-native species such as buckthorn, honeysuckle, and multiflora rose. On the surface, the invasive species brought over from other continents look lush and green. But, in reality, they steal the sunlight and water from the native plants. Insects and animals suffer too. Fewer birds, butterflies and amphibians can survive.

Clearing the land of non-native species is expensive, labor intensive, and often misunderstood in the community. Holding a team building event in a forest preserve is a way for corporations and employees to spearhead the forest preservation efforts near their offices and homes while expanding their leadership and workplace skills.

“Working with volunteers gives me great satisfaction. It allows me to bring people into my world, a world that they’ve probably never seen before.” – Henry Harris, Conservation Corps Advanced Crew Member

Recommended Schedule

Contribution

To facilitate a Corporate Team Building Day, Friends requests a contribution that is tax-deductible to help cover the cost of this program and to support Friends’ mission. This program includes large and small group activities, hands-on training, gloves and tools, and a permit to use the nearest picnic grove. Contributions are tiered, based on the number of people you expect to participate.

$1,500 up to 15 participants
$2,000 16-30 participants
$2,500 31-50 participants
$5,000 51 to 100 participants

• These are suggested minimum donations to help cover our costs. You are always welcome to contribute more!
• Please note that there are no refunds. We will reschedule one time if there is a need for cancellation due to weather or other emergency situations.

Contact

Please contact Ilana Federman, Associate Director of Development and Communications, at ilana@fotfp.org or 312-356-9990 ext. 305, for further information.