Mark your calendars – The WPPC’s annual Natural Landscaping Seminar is just around the corner!
Click here to register now for our 31st annual event! We’ve scheduled some wonderful presentations on creating and benefiting from native habitat.
- Online Registration is $45 and is open now through February 17. Mail-in registration is also $45 and must be postmarked by February 11.
- You may register in-person at the registration table beginning at 8am on February 22.
- Cost to register at the door is $50.
If you would like to observe Covid protocols, there will be a section where masks and distancing are required. For questions, contact us at seminar@thewppc.org.
Schedule of Events
8:00-8:30 | Registration & Coffee |
8:30-8:40 | Welcome |
8:40-10:10 | The Urban Ecology of Coyotes Negin Almassi, Resource Management Training Specialist, Forest Preserves of Cook County The Cook County Coyote Project is a comprehensive study of coyotes in Chicago metropolitan areas. Negin will pull from two decades of research to dispel coyote myths and highlight the benefits of living with coyotes. Learn of their surprising urban habitats and embrace this top urban predator as a brilliant survivor against all odds. |
10:10-10:30 | Break – visit our exhibits featuring natural landscaping services, products, garden art and books. |
10:30-12:00 | The Pollinator Victory Garden Kim Eierman, Ecological Landscape Designer, Environmental Horticulturist, Founder of EcoBeneficial LLC and Author of The Pollinator Victory Garden The time is right for a new gardening movement! Kim will show us how simple changes in our landscapes can make huge environmental improvements. Every yard, patio and municipal landscape can help us win the war against pollinator decline and change our world for the better. |
12:00-1:00 | Lunch served by Three Chefs Catering; exhibits in the Commons. |
1:00-2:30 | The History of Fire and Vegetation in Illinois Dr. Greg Spyreas, Research Scientist, Illinois Natural History Survey Learn about the history and origin of wildfire in Illinois, before and after the arrival of humans. Greg will help us understand the important relationships between fire and our native plant communities, including an informative discussion of fire frequencies and ignition sources. |
2:30-2:45 | Break – visit our exhibits featuring natural landscaping services, products, garden art and books. |
2:45-3:45 | Forty Years of Conservation in McHenry County Ed Collins, Retired Director of Land Preservation & Natural Resources, McHenry County Conservation District Where we have been, where we are, where we are going and why the best is yet to come: A hopeful message for conservationists! Ed will share his heartfelt beliefs of how we can achieve many great things – even during challenging times. |