The fact that the landscape drained by the Chicago River is home to a great city is obvious to even the most distracted tourist. Less obvious is the fact that nature survives, even thrives, amidst the Midwest???s greatest city. Few places in Illinois offer the variety of habitats, and thus of living things, that are found in and around Chicago. In the mid-1970s, experts combed Illinois to compile a catalog of significant living communities and other natural features. To the surprise of many, they found that Lake and Cook counties contain by far the richest concentration of such treasures in all of Illinois.published or submitted for publicatio
