February 2025 (Click the title to view the program YouTube video)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee as an “endangered” species and has initiated a formal rule-making process to designate critical habitat for the bee, including parts of northern Illinois.
Mike Groves, Natural Resource Manager for the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County will discuss some of the FPWC habitat restoration projects and how they benefit Rusty Patched Bumble Bees. He will also cover specific Rusty Patched Bumble Bee habitat requirements, life cycle, and identification.
The program will be held at the Forest Preserve District headquarters and start at an earlier time.
Born and raised in the Winnebago area, Mike graduated in 1994 from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point with a major in Wildlife Management and Biology. He began working with the forest preserve district in the summer of 1990, starting out in preserve maintenance and worked a summer at Klehm Arboretum. Hired full time in 1994, he was transferred to the Natural Resource Department in 1997. Mike currently oversees Natural Resource work in all 44 preserves totally close to 12,000 acres, including native seed collection, seed cleaning, greenhouse propagation, invasive species control, tree planting, wildlife monitoring, restoring natural areas, tree removals, prescribed burns and all resource staff and equipment.