Baird Creek Preservation Foundation (BCPF)

Mission: The Baird Creek Preservation Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to facilitate the preservation and restoration of the Baird Creek Watershed in order to enhance its value as an ecological, recreational, and educational resource for generations to come. History: The BCPF got its start in 1997, when a group of citizens organized to prevent a pristine 40-acre parcel of forest from becoming a housing development. We now maintain over 500 acres, and we are continually fundraising to add more acreage. Educational Programming: We work extensively with local schools and organizations to provide environmental education in the greenway. Every year students from pre-school through grad school learn about water chemistry, macro-invertebrates, fish, birds, forest, stream ecology, and plant identification. We have implemented a summer camp program for grades Kindergarten through 8th grade, and we offer monthly educational hikes to the public. About Baird Creek: The Baird Creek Greenway is an ecological gem; it has at least 18 distinct biological communities, between 400-500 plant species, and it supports a great diversity of birds, fish, mammals and invertebrates. Our primary goal as an organization is to do the necessary habitat restoration to both maintain this diversity, as well as improve the more degraded areas of the park so that the Baird Creek Greenway will reach its full potential and become one of the premier urban wild parks in the Midwest. Check out our website for more information on projects we are looking to do, upcoming events/hikes, and more general information!