I walk beside a Subaru Forester in someone’s driveway, and it reminds me of my grandfather. Not because he used to drive one or even an SUV, but because he worked for the Forest Preserve in Illinois. We don’t really hear about forests too much in this area of Texas. But there are forests in Texas, just mostly in the Piney Woods of East Texas — where I lived for over 30 years — and the Big Thicket region just north of Beaumont and Houston. The Forest Preserve in Illinois is probably more akin to the state parks of Texas. Let’s find out more about it.
According to Wikipedia, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages a network of open spaces containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams and lakes that are mostly set aside as natural areas. Cook County contains Chicago and is the center of the most densely populated urban metropolitan area in the Midwest. The Forest Preserve lands encompass approximately 70,000 acres, about 11% of the county, providing open space within its urban surroundings. It contains facilities for recreation, as well as a zoo and a botanic garden.
History
According to the Mission & History of the Forest Preserve of Cook County at https://fpdcc.com, More than 100 years ago, as the young metropolis was quickly expanding, civic leaders in Chicago had the wisdom and foresight to create the first forest preserve in the nation. Their mission remains the same today:
“To acquire, restore and manage lands for the purpose of protecting and preserving public open space with its natural wonders, significant prairies, forests, wetlands, rivers, streams, and other landscapes with all of its associated wildlife, in a natural state for the education, pleasure and recreation of the public now and in the future.”
The Forest Preserves of Cook County, with nearly 70,000 acres, is one of the oldest and largest forest preserve districts in the United States. It receives an estimated 62 million visits each year, providing an escape into a world teeming with wildlife and rich with outdoor recreation and environmental education opportunities. Within its boundaries are rare habitats that offer plant and animal diversity on par with the rainforests of the world.
At the start of the 20th century, it was clear that Chicago was fast becoming one of the world’s great cities. It was also clear that the beautiful landscapes surrounding the city could soon vanish under the aggressive spread of houses and factories.
Led by the same ideals that were launching the National Park System around the same time, community leaders came together to propose an audacious idea: Create a huge expanse of public land around the city’s core and protect it forever in its natural state.
The visionaries behind the efforts to create a forest preserve district included Jens Jensen, a landscape architect famous for celebrating Illinois’ native plants, and Dwight Perkins, an architect who helped found the Prairie School Movement. Starting in 1904, they advocated tirelessly for the creation of a permanent preserve system and turned local leaders into supporters, including noted city planner Daniel Burnham and The Commercial Club of Chicago.
On November 3, 1914, the residents of Cook County voted in favor of establishing a forest preserve district whose boundaries would be analogous to the boundaries of Cook County. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County was established on November 30, 1914 and the first meeting of the Board of Forest Preserve Commissioners was February 11, 1915.
On June 25, 1916 the first lands were obtained — 500 acres of what is now known as Deer Grove — and by the end of the 1930s, the Forest Preserves held a total area of 33,000 acres. During this time, the Forest Preserves also worked to expand services for patrons. By 1920, the district created a special “Golf Committee” charged with setting aside land for golf courses and hiring concessionaires to serve golfers, and by the early 1930s, the district had begun construction on roads, walking trails and recreational facilities.
During the Depression, the influx of funds and labor through the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration increased the pace of these improvements. In the “WPA Guide to Illinois, The Federal Writers’ Project Guide to 1930s Illinois,” the authors wrote, “Within [the Cook County Forest Preserves] lie more than 150 miles of hiking trails, 40 miles of bridle paths and special facilities ranging from ski and toboggan slides to swimming pools. Only a few minutes out of the city, they are extensively used by picnickers, hiking and nature study clubs, and those merely seeking a brief respite from the roar and clamor of the metropolis.”
In 1934, the Chicago Zoological Society opened the Brookfield Zoo on land donated to and purchased by the Forest Preserves, and in 1972 the Chicago Horticultural Society opened the Chicago Botanic Garden on Forest Preserves land in Glencoe. Both the Zoo and Garden remain close partners with the Forest Preserves, which helps support the institutions and shares their mission of preserving and providing education about the natural world.
The zoo grounds are located on 216 acres and include outdoor and indoor habitats for a vast array of animals, some of which are critically endangered. With its world-renowned plant collections and displays, the Garden is one of the most visited public gardens in the world. Both are preeminent centers for learning and scientific research.
Over the decades, as the scientific community’s understanding of native ecosystems evolved, the Forest Preserves has also expanded its commitment to protecting and restoring the habitats in its care. After World War II, the Forest Preserves created the Department of Conservation — now the Department of Resource Management — influenced by naturalist Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, which outlines the human responsibility to the natural world. The first prairie restoration was implemented at Camp Sagawau in 1965, and in 1996 the Forest Preserves helped found Chicago Wilderness, a coalition dedicated to protecting nature in the region.
In 2014, the Forest Preserves released the Next Century Conservation Plan, an ambitious blueprint for making Cook County a national leader in urban conservation. The NCCP calls for massive restoration and expansion of protected lands, as well as a commitment to making the preserves more accessible to the diverse people of Cook County. The following year, the Forest Preserves released the Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan, which provides the guidance needed to implement the NCCP’s natural resource goals. It also lays out a natural and cultural resources framework for future land acquisition, recreation development and capital improvement.
Much has changed in the more than 100 years that the Forest Preserves has been serving the residents of Cook County, but its continues its commitment to the county’s natural wonders and the “education, pleasure and recreation of the public now and in the future.”
Emmy-award winning documentary
The Forest Preserves of Cook County — in partnership with WYCC PBS Chicago and Juneteenth Productions — made an Emmy award-winning documentary, “Chicago’s True Nature: The Forest Preserves of Cook County.” It captures the sights and sounds within the Forest Preserves as it marked its 100th anniversary throughout 2015. Audiences will see and learn about the benefits of nature, the impact of open land to our quality of life and what lies ahead in the next century for the one of the oldest and largest forest preserve systems in the nation.
New for 2021
At Powderhorn Lake in the Calumet Region, a new water control system will be installed in partnership with Audubon Great Lakes that will help reestablish a vital marsh habitat, which will bolster local fish populations and provide habitat for many species of native and migrating birds.
An updated Sand Ridge Campus in South Holland will open in 2021, with new exhibits at Sand Ridge Nature Center, more information across the square mile of amenities and an emphasis on new programming and community engagement.
At Schuth’s Grove in the western suburbs, the Forest Preserves will build a new, accessible canoe and kayak launch, one of nine boat launches and landings on the Des Plaines River and one of nearly two dozen on lakes, creeks and rivers across the Forest Preserves.
Illinois Nature Preserves
Although Cook County is one of the most densely populated areas in the country, it is the most ecologically diverse county in Illinois. The protected open spaces of the Forest Preserves of Cook County are a big reason both those facts can be true.
The prairies, woodlands, wetlands and savannas are home to native plants and wildlife, including more than 100 threatened or endangered species. And more than 20 sites within the Forest Preserves have been designated as an Illinois Nature Preserve — the highest level of protection for natural lands in the state.
Illinois Nature Preserves protect rare plants, animals and other unique natural features — including now uncommon ecosystems like tall grass prairies, oak savannas, sandstone bluffs, wetlands and bogs.
- Illinois Nature Preserves are public and private lands voluntarily dedicated into the internationally acclaimed Illinois Nature Preserves System.
- These high-quality natural areas and habitats of endangered and threatened species are permanently protected by state law.
- The Forest Preserves of Cook County has 25 Illinois Nature Preserves, totaling 7,248 acres, the most of any local agency in the state.
Without the protection provided by the Illinois Nature Preserves System and the Forest Preserves of Cook County, many of Illinois’ plants, animals and ecosystems would be lost forever.
- Over 900 species of endangered and threatened plants and animals are protected in Illinois Nature Preserves across the state.
- Beyond providing vital habitat for native plants and animals, they are also valued for their contributions to scientific research, education and public health and recreation.
- These are the last remnants of landscapes that evolved after the last ice age and covered Illinois until the U.S. federal government and settlers pushed Native Americans out of the area, leading to expansion of urban, industrial and agricultural land use. Today, 0.1% of Illinois’ land reflects these historical natural conditions.
To maintain robust ecosystems for plants and animals in an urban landscape, nature needs help. Forest Preserves staff work with nonprofit partners and thousands of volunteers to conserve, preserve and restore the land, guided by plans like the Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan and using effective management techniques like prescribed burning.
Protecting as many remaining natural areas as possible is critical in the face of constant pressure from development, invasive species and climate change.
Thanks to dedicated restoration and conservation efforts, native plants and wildlife — including North American river otters, blue spotted salamanders, shrubs such as red and yellow honeysuckle, native orchids and birds such as bald eagles, osprey and bobolinks — continue to return to or flourish on the land.
Building healthy communities
The Forest Preserves of Cook County are more than a getaway. Whether you exercise or just go out to breathe the fresh air, they can be a healthy hotspot. And across cities and suburbs, they help keep water and air clean.
A great, physically challenging workout is climbing the nearly 300 limestone stairs at the iconic 100-foot-tall bluff at Swallow Cliff Woods. Another great workout is a lengthy hike or bike ride through miles of unpaved trails in the Palos preserves. For something slower paced and peaceful, attend a yoga session where you can strike a tree pose among the trees. Simply taking a walk in nature can provide both mental and physical health benefits.
The Forest Preserves also keep communities healthy. Diverse, restored native ecosystems help filter air and water, making the county a better place to live. And each year, the Forest Preserves have the capacity to absorb more than 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere — as much greenhouse gas as driving more than 330,000 cars for a year — and help prevent extreme flooding after heavy rainfall.
Land Acknowledgement
A Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement used in official materials or read at the beginning of events and celebrations. The Forest Preserves of Cook County’s Land Acknowledgement recognizes the past relationship that local Native American tribes shared with the land and the ongoing relationship that the thousands of Native Americans that live here share with the land today.
In the photo above, the Land Acknowledgement was first read on Indigenous Peoples Day in 2019 at a celebration of the new Serpent Twin Mound — Pokto Činto — at Schiller Woods. Indigenous artist Santiago X created the mound as part of the Northwest Portage Walking Museum.
Native Americans continue to live and practice their heritage and traditions in the Chicago region, including through stewardship of the land. Chicago is home to the country’s third-largest urban Native American community, and it is the responsibility of the Forest Preserves of Cook County to engage this community, celebrating its past and supporting its future.
Restoration projects
Somme Prairie Nature Preserve is an original prairie, one of the highest quality remnants in Illinois. Part of it was shaded out by planted and invasive trees. This restoration project removed all brush and trees to help return the land to a thriving prairie habitat.
This restoration project removed all brush and trees from a 21-acre area of Somme Prairie Nature Preserve. Volunteer stewards and staff reintroduced rare prairie plants by collecting seeds from on site and nearby sites to return this area to a thriving prairie habitat. The project was supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Great Lakes Coastal Program.
At the Illinois-Indiana border east of Lake Calumet is Eggers Grove, a 240-acre woodland and wetland preserve that attracts people from all over the county and is a haven for migrating birds from around the country. Since urban development cut off the site from Wolf Lake, the wetland no longer had a natural fluctuation in water levels.
At the end of May 2019, construction began on a new system that allowed the Forest Preserves to drain and adjust the water levels in the area on a more natural cycle and restore one of the few remaining wetlands in the Calumet region.
“Biodiversity is as critical in aquatic areas as it is on land in sustaining healthy natural areas,” said Chip O’Leary, the deputy director of resource management for the Forest Preserves of Cook County. “In our urbanized landscape, it takes new techniques to restore habitats. This water control structure will allow vegetation that is native to this type of hemi-marsh to thrive, and in conjunction with the right water levels, that will attract migrating birds and other wildlife.”
Scientists and specialists from the Forest Preserves, The Nature Conservancy and Audubon Great Lakes noticed that drainage infrastructure out of the marsh had become degraded and nonoperational, choked with common reed and silt, effectively damming the marsh. The deeper, stagnant water was unsuitable to native marsh plants and allowed invasive plants to establish and thrive.
“These artificially high-water levels make the area uninhabitable for many birds that once nested or stopped to rest and refuel during their migratory travels,” said Brad Kasberg, wetland restoration manager at Audubon Great Lakes in Chicago. “Native bird species that were once abundant in our region — such as black-crowned night heron and least bittern — have been in steep decline and are now endangered or threatened. Restoring the natural ability of the marsh to fill and drain is absolutely necessary to save these birds.”
The new water control structure allowed the Forest Preserves to replicate the conditions of the local wetland system when it drained into nearby Wolf Lake, before development — including the construction of a Nike missile site in the 1950s — changed water flow patterns. Three manual gates are used by Forest Preserves staff to adjust water levels to maintain a mix of open water and emergent vegetation, to dry out sediment and to allow native plant seeds to germinate.
A project to restore fish habitat in Mill Creek began in March 2019, finishing in May 2019. Mill Creek runs through McClaughrey Spring Woods and empties into the Cal-Sag channel. Currently, there was a significant drop-off between the creek and the channel, which inhibited fish from swimming upstream and laying eggs. This project was designed to improve this connection by reducing barriers and improving the stream bed.
The clean, highly oxygenated, flowing water of Mill Creek, with its riffle and pool complexes, acted as an excellent migratory pathway, even providing breeding grounds, for upwards of 17 native fish species that currently are not seen in the creek, but common in the Cal-Sag channel.
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