Stories by Patty Wetli

Pending final approval, Openlands will transfer the Lakeshore Preserve to the Lake County Forest Preserves, which owns the adjacent 250-acre Fort Sheridan preserve.

Chicago is one of 18 cities chosen for the Heat Watch Campaign, which will map the city's urban heat islands — places with fewer trees and more pavement, where temperatures can soar 20 degrees higher than surrounding areas.

This time of year, Shedd Aquarium biologist Melissa Youngquist can be found in the woods, sloshing through ponds in search of signs of amphibian life.

Another week, another wildlife sensation. This time it’s a pair of protective peregrine falcon parents who are dive-bombing pedestrians downtown in order to steer them away from their nestlings.

Yep, it’s the annual appearance of cottonwood fluff, and if you were thinking this year’s showering seems excessive, you’re right. It is.

State climatologist Trent Ford said conditions aren't alarming, yet, but if June isn't signficantly wetter than May, there's cause for concern.

With high temperatures in the forecast, city officials issued a reminder to landlords about new air conditioning requirements, put in place in 2022 after three women died in a Rogers Park senior living facility.

A newly announced $21 million gift will help the Chicago Botanic Garden further its conservation and research projects, like the development of a studbook for plants.

For a bunch of hardened urbanites, Chicagoans sure do have a soft spot when it comes to animals.

Beach season will run through Sept. 4. The city’s pools are expected to open by June 23.

The Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to build a 25-foot-tall “toxic tower” on Lake Michigan has hit a speed bump.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrows the Clean Water Act’s authority to regulate certain wetlands has met with disappointment, frustration and head-scratching among Great Lakes environmentalists.

Legislators and environmental activists alike say they were caught off guard by fast-tracked proposals that would pave the way for a private entity to own a piece of an expanded I-55. 

Chicago has recorded less than half an inch of rain in May, leading to what climate experts call a flash drought.

Forest Preserve District officials presented a proposal to increase fines and to add a provision that would allow the district to collect restitution from people caught trashing the preserves.

The recent loss of Nakili, Brookfield Zoo’s 33-year-old eastern black rhinoceros, unexpectedly sent us on a trip down memory lane, revisiting some of the zoo’s most beloved residents.

The Great Lakes was named a global “Hope Spot,” joining the Galapagos Islands, the Great Barrier Reef and the Bering Sea as a place identified as critical to the health of the ocean.

Smoke from raging wildfires in western Canada has reached Chicago, creating hazy skies and making for redder sunrises and sunsets.

The death of even one turtle can have ripple effects on the larger population, forest preserve officials said. If a female is killed in a hit and run, her future progeny, which could number in the hundreds, are lost as well. 

The tax was supposed to discourage the use of plastic bags. Instead, it’s turned into a cash cow for the city. Activists say it’s time to rethink the policy.

Nakili was diagnosed with kidney disease last summer. At 33 years old, he was the oldest male of his species living in an accredited North American zoo.

Right on cue, the much hyped “pneumonia front” hit Chicago shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, sending the official temperature at O’Hare International Airport plummeting from 81 degrees to 66 degrees in short order.

The Foo Fighters, The Cure and Death Cab for Cutie are among the headliners announced Tuesday by Riot Fest. Whether they’ll take the stage is still up in the air.

The giant snapping turtle spotted in the Chicago River became a viral sensation this week. But the river is home to lots of wildlife, thanks to ongoing efforts to clean up the waterway.

NASCAR Cup cars will be outfitted with mufflers, just one of the actions being taken by race organizers to head off concerns about noise.

Opponents want Riot Fest out of Douglass Park, but supporters of the festival say it has been an asset to the North Lawndale community.