What We Do
Next Generation Conservation
For more than 60 years, Openlands has helped shape and lead conservation across the greater Chicago region. The decade ahead will bring rapid change to our landscapes and governance. Today, more than two acres are lost to development for every acre permanently protected. Through our strategic plan, we have charted a path forward for next-generation conservation to close that gap, protecting land at the pace and scale that the climate and biodiversity imperatives demand.
We are advancing that vision through conservation planning, policy, land preservation, restoration, forestry, and workforce development. Together, these interconnected disciplines span the full conservation lifecycle from envisioning a better future to ensuring long-term land stewardship. We are creating lasting solutions that strengthen biodiversity, climate resilience, and public access to nature across one of the nation’s most complex metropolitan regions.
About Openlands
Be part of what’s next. Support bold, local conservation action.
Our Expertise
Conservation Planning
Guiding the future of the region.
Openlands leads landscape-scale conservation planning that guides how land, water, and communities grow together. Working across a network of municipalities, public agencies, and partners, we develop regional strategies that protect and connect natural areas, strengthen ecological corridors, and balance conservation with sustainable growth.
Our planning work lays the foundation for future land protection, restoration, and public investment across the region.
Directors Sara Egan and Samantha Chavez discuss the landscape transformations around Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
…
Director of Conservation Planning Sara Egan writes on fragmented municipal planning in Will County.
…Policy
Shaping policies that protect nature.
Openlands advances policy and regulatory reforms that safeguard land, water, and wildlife for generations to come.
We work at the local, state, and federal levels to strengthen environmental protections, increase public investment in conservation, and build public support through education, advocacy, and coalition-building. Our policy work creates lasting change that shapes how conservation happens across the region.
Land Preservation
Permanently protecting the places we love.
As a nationally accredited land trust, Openlands protects both private and public lands across the greater Chicago region through conservation easements, land acquisition, legal agreements, and real estate transactions.
Working with forest preserves, public agencies, municipalities, landowners, and community partners, we protect important landscapes while improving regional connectivity. Our land protection work combines law, science, and advocacy to strengthen conservation policy, defend land and water protections, and support regulatory reform and litigation. Openlands also provides ongoing monitoring of our protected property portfolio.
Director of Conservation Planning Sara Egan writes on fragmented municipal planning in Will County.
…
The Urban Nature newsletter highlights the upcoming Midewin 30th Anniversary Open House.
…Restoration
Bringing nature back.
Openlands restores and stewards globally significant landscapes and local natural areas that are essential to the ecological health of the region. From federal landscapes like Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge to regional forests, wetlands, prairies, and rivers, we partner with public agencies, private landowners, volunteers, and communities to deliver science-based ecological restoration and long-term stewardship.
Our restoration work strengthens biodiversity, reconnects landscapes, and develops restoration models that advance broader conservation and public access goals across the region.
Openlands hosted Opentalks in May 2026 at The Driehaus Museum in downtown Chicago. The event …
Chicagoans who love active, experiential learning can take an impactful day trip of paddling through …
Forestry
Growing healthier trees and communities.
Openlands advances forestry across the greater Chicago region by protecting and expanding urban and community tree canopy, restoring forest health, and strengthening ecological connectivity. We work with communities, public agencies, volunteers, and partners—including through programs like TreeKeepers and the TreePlanters Grant—to steward trees through long-term care.
Our forestry work supports broader conservation, community access to nature, and policy efforts that improve climate resilience, support biodiversity, and create healthier communities.
Volunteering Events
Conservation Workforce
Developing the next generation of conservation professionals.
Openlands advances conservation workforce development by preparing emerging professionals through hands-on training, mentorship, and career pathways in arboriculture and ecological restoration. Programs like our Arboriculture Registered Apprenticeship (ARA) equip participants with the skills needed for meaningful careers while helping meet the growing demand for a skilled conservation workforce.
By expanding access to conservation careers and strengthening the conservation economy, we are building the human capacity needed to protect, restore, and steward the region’s natural resources.
TreeKeeper Lorraine Antieau writes about the Openlands Arborist Registered Apprentices treating for Emerald Ash Borer.
…
Openlands hosted Opentalks in May 2026 at The Driehaus Museum in downtown Chicago. The event …
Connecting people to nature where they live.
As innovative protectors and stewards of the land since 1963, Openlands exists to create access to nature for all. Through local alliances, forward vision, and persistent action, Openlands connects and leads conservation work, serving as a guiding voice for communities, organizations, and more effective policy in northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region.
