The Forest Preserves recently hired a bilingual environmental educator as one strategy toward our objective to reach a broader audience. Requests from local schools and community members for programs delivered in Spanish emphasized the need for multilingual programming.

“We are proud to offer all of our environmental education programs in Spanish,” said Education Manager Alyssa Firkus. “Our goal is to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community and encourage them to visit and enjoy the forest preserves.”

Beginning this spring, the educator will offer a series of guided forest preserve walks in Spanish. “She will educate participants about plants, animals, nature and history of the preserves,” Firkus said. The walks are meant to further expand our reach into communities and make our programming more welcoming to all residents. 

Upcoming walks include:

• 9–10 am, Monday, March 27 at Greenbelt (North Chicago).
• 9–10 am, Thursday, April 27 at Nippersink (Round Lake). 
• 9–10 am, Saturday, May 13 at Buffalo Creek (Long Grove).

View the complete 100-Year Vision and Strategic Plan, and Road Map to 2025 objectives and tactics at LCFPD.org/vision.

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