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Jordan Rego Restores Nature in his Community

Jordan Rego is an Outstanding Community Service Award recipient for his work volunteering with Friends of the Forest Preserves, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring natural lands in Cook County, IL from abuse and neglect.

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Jordan Rego, Senior Manager, Information Security, is an Outstanding Community Service Award recipient for his work volunteering with Friends of the Forest Preserves.

Chicago is a globally recognized city known for its rich history, architecture and food. But did you know Chicago also boasts the nation’s first and largest forest preserve district? With 70,000 acres of forest preserve land in Cook County—the second most populous county in the U.S. including Chicago plus 130 additional municipalities—the region’s diverse ecology spans several distinct ecosystems, from tallgrass prairies and dense woodlands to open savannahs and swampy wetlands

^{Photo: North branch of the Chicago riverbank with cut buckthorn}

Living in a fast-paced urban environment, Jordan Rego, Senior Manager, Information Security, appreciates the natural beauty of the Cook County Forest Preserves and the often-overlooked opportunity to easily connect with nature so close to home.

Jordan began volunteering with Friends of the Forest Preserves about two years ago to give back to his community. The organization was founded in 1998 to restore land from abuse and neglect. More than 25 years since its founding, the group says only 20% of the forest preserve land is in a healthy state. That’s why they work hard to educate, promote and care for the land through advocacy, volunteer organizing and ecological restoration, striving to bring back the conditions that support healthy nature.

“It’s all about restoring the balance of the woods,” Jordan says.

As an Eagle Scout, Jordan was already knowledgeable about ways to protect and restore natural areas, but Friends of the Forest Preserves makes it easy for anyone to volunteer, spend quality time outdoors and make a difference.

In the winter that means deploying prescribed burns to combat invasive species and support reseeding and resprouting. In the springtime, volunteers help plant and spread native grass and flower seeds or remove invasive buckthorn trees. The summer is focused on weeding through hand pulling and herbicide. In the fall, volunteers cut out dead trees and shrubs and begin to collect seeds.

^{Photo: Buckthorn in the process of being cut with a bowsaw}

Friends of the Forest Preserves welcomes volunteers of all levels and backgrounds, providing guidance to use common gardening tools like loppers and rakes and special safety training for equipment such as chainsaws and brush cutters. Volunteers with more experience can also gain certification to participate in more in-depth projects. For instance, Jordan passed a specialized exam to become a licensed pesticide applicator, critical for dispensing herbicide.

“It couldn’t be easier to volunteer,” says Jordan. “The commitment is very manageable. Just sign up for a weekend shift and come back as often as you’d like.”

Volunteering is open to individuals, corporate team-building groups and even families with children.

^{Photo: Volunteers feed cut invasives into a burn pile}

As part of Jordan’s Outstanding Community Service Award recognition, Cboe will donate $5,000 to Friends of the Forest Preserves. Friends of the Forest Preserves relies on donations like Cboe’s to sustain the organization’s ecological restoration efforts, including hiring contractors to complete high impact tasks, supporting volunteer activities, and funding the group’s Conservation Corp, a paid group of high school students, young adults and participants from low-income or underserved communities to perform restoration work

Biking along the Skokie Lagoon or the North Branch trail, Jordan takes pride in seeing the restoration of his favorite natural areas progressing toward a healthier state.

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