TLC’s CLIP Returns for Summer 2026
CLIP is back in action! Last Wednesday, we kicked off the 2026 season of the Conservation Leader Internship Program (CLIP).
Our first weekly update is brought to you by Kathryn (I’m TLC’s Land Preservation Specialist), but future updates will be through the eyes of our three AWESOME interns.
On Wednesday, we started at the TLC office at Hennen Conservation Area with an orientation and important field safety guidelines. Our goal for the first week was to give the interns a glimpse of the places we have preserved and the work we do to preserve those places (before we really dig into it!). We headed over to TLC’s Barefoot Ridge site to meet with Bruce, the longtime steward of the natural area.
We burned part of the site in the spring, so we got to see how well it pushed back the shrubs creeping into the prairie. We did a TON of plant ID along the way (spiderwort was the star of the show this week), and Bruce walked us through the site’s history and restoration goals. After lunch, we met up at Irish Oaks Nature Preserve to look for some orchids in the hot sun. We also saw some vibrant Indian paintbrush, and even saw what we thought might be a muskrat before it dove into the water.
We finished our day at Hennen with some journaling, which the interns will do each day to keep a log of knowledge, contacts, places, plants, and more that they learn.
Thursday morning, we set off for Ryder’s Woods for a volunteer restoration workday. There’s often a lot going on at workdays, so we went over some more important field safety info. The interns learned how to build a fire for brush piles, and then they went to town on removing garlic mustard, dame’s rocket, and honeysuckle. After lunch, we went on a brief walk through Ryder’s Woods in Woodstock to keep working on plant identification (a lifelong journey) and to check out the restoration work that has been done there. We’ll likely have more stories at Ryder’s as the summer unfolds.
We finished up the day collecting some native seeds at Boloria Meadows with Dennis, the site’s longtime steward. Dennis treated us to an in-depth tour of the beautiful natural area, including tons of plant ID and guidance on how to read the landscape to gauge the success of different restoration techniques. We even got to see a Baltimore checkerspot butterfly!
Last Friday was the first of this summer’s Final Friday Workdays! We gathered at the Blue Farm conservation easement for a volunteer workday with the interns. They got to meet more of our awesome volunteers, and we got a LOT of work done around the seeps in the beautiful wetland of the natural area. Everyone worked together as a team to remove honeysuckle and autumn olive (and became closely acquainted with the thorns…), and it made a huge difference. We talked about the fact that many brushy invasive species have shallow roots, which can lead to erosion issues in wetter areas. Hopefully, in the coming years, we’ll see some more deep-rooted native plants, which will help to protect the seeps. After a day of hard work, Alisha and Kevin, the owners of the Blue Farm, treated us to a delicious meal of foods foraged from their natural area.
We finished our day by stocking up on some field PPE. Safety first!
A major theme of this week has been the generosity and expertise of our amazing partners and collaborators, and I know that this theme will continue throughout the summer. In addition to all of the important restoration skills they will gain from hands-on work, I am personally so excited to share all the learning opportunities and experiences we have planned for our interns.
I can’t wait for you all to hear about it from them! Stay tuned for next week’s update.