We are a partnership of government, non-profit, and volunteer organizations dedicated
to the early detection and control of new exotic invasive plant and insect species in the
Chicago Wilderness (CW) region, an area of globally threatened natural communities.
This region is a global transportation hub, providing access for plant and animal invasions.
Our target species are known to be invasive in the Midwest or regions of similar climate,
and are not currently known from CW or are relatively rare here.

Our goals are to:

• Increase understanding of invasive species impacts, their modes of invasion,
  and control measures to limit their spread
  
  
• Provide mechanisms to collect and share information on 15 plant and
  2 insect target species to improve management strategies
  and predict future distributions
  
  
• Facilitate the prevention and control of new exotic invasives

This program has the following key components:

• Coordinate trained volunteers and professionals to locate and voucher target species
  
  
• Provide an on-line system for reporting new populations,
  verifying their identification, notifying land managers, and tracking their responses
  
  
• Create an on-line toolbox with known species distributions, current management
  techniques, and identification and training materials
  
  
• Develop on-line reports providing locations of new exotic invasives found by
  other programs in the region

If you have any problems with this page, please reply to: Ed DeWalt