City Nature Challenge 2019: Chicago Wilderness Region's Journal

For the fourth year in a row, the Chicago region will be competing with cities around the world to see who can make the most observations of nature, find the most species, and engage the most people in the 2019 City Nature Challenge (CNC).

During the four-day 2018 City Nature Challange, the Chicago Wilderness Region had our highest numbers ever:
*6,870 observations
*1,017 taxa (921 at species or below)
*353 observers
*256 identifiers
*16 public events, at least 2 private events

Some of the goals for the Chicago Wilderness Region City Nature Challenge 2019:
*Can we beat cities that share our climate and latitude? Minneapolis wants a mini-challenge!
*Can we crack 7,000 observations?
*Can we hit 400 observers this year?
*Can we grow Challenge participation in communities outside of Cook County, IL?
*Can we engage new audiences by adding more bioblitzes, spring wildflower walks, birding events, and involving more educators?

Here's how you can help the Chicago Wilderness Region achieve some of these goals:

*Add April 26-29th to your 2019 calendar and make iNaturalist observations in your favorite natural areas within this four-day window of CNC

*Experts and identifiers, get your fingers ready to make Chicago Wilderness Region CNC iNat identifications between April 30-May 5th.

*Tell a friend about CNC and invite them to come exploring with you during CNC

*Are you a municipality, land manager or steward interested in using the City Nature Challenge to engage the local community in your natural areas? Contact us.

*Are you an educator interested in adding citizen science to your curriculum? Check out the CNC Educator Toolkit: http://citynaturechallenge.org/education-toolkit/

*Are you an expert willing to take citizen scientists on an ID hike in your favorite natural area? Contact us.

*Are you planning to host a CNC event? Let us know and we'll help advertise it across the region.

*Are you looking for a natural area to host an event or looking for citizen scientists to come to your natural area? Contact us!

Contact Chicago Wilderness Region City Nature Challenge organizers at CWRCNC at gmail dot com

The 2019 City Nature Challenge will take place in two parts. To avoid the frenzied observation uploading and observation identifications of previous challenges, the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum Los Angeles have split up the two activities. The 2019 schedule is as follows:

Friday, April 26th- Monday, April 29th
Taking pictures of wild plants and animals

Tuesday, April 30- Sunday, May 5th
Identifying what was found

Monday, May 6th
City Nature Challenge results announced

Over 100 cities are participating in CNC in 2019. The cities have agreed that all observations, including those that are not verifiable or are captive/cultivated, will count as an "observation." However, iNaturalist data users find verifiable and wild observations the most valuable citizen science information. Please keep the spirit of this project in mind when making observations. Have fun!

Join the iNaturalist project here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-chicago-wilderness-region
Tips for making observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

@kennedy9094 @whimbrelbirder