Naperville Company Makes $10,000 Donation To Botanic Garden's Mission

GLENCOE, IL — A Naperville-based company has donated $10,000 to help preserve the ecological mission of the Chicago Botanic Gardens and to ensure that natural areas like the local area remain preserved.

Nicor Gas has partnered with the Botanic Garden to support the restoration and conservation of natural areas, the company said in a news release. As part of Nicor Gas’ goal to create, maintain and sustain 10,000 acres of open space across its service territory, the company has committed $10,000 to support the diversity of wildflowers at the Garden’s 100-acre McDonald Woods, which provides critical habitats for wildlife and pollinators.

The wildflower establishment is occurring in a 15-acre portion of the woods, but activities that are essential to support this work, such as prescribed burns and on-site seed collection, occur throughout the natural areas that comprise more than half of the garden’s 385 acres, Nicor Gas said in the release.

These natural areas also serve as living laboratories for the Glencoe campus’ plant conservation science researchers, who share best practices with land managers across the region and country.

“Here at Chicago Botanic Garden, the focus of our work is to help U.S. gardens connect globally to conserve plants,” Andrea Kramer, Ph.D., the garden's director of Restoration Ecology said in the release. “We need to recognize what we have, understand the threats, and take steps now to make sure that we don’t lose this amazing plant diversity.”