For its part, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources says it's not necessarily at odds with what the advocacy groups want.
There's a point about 35 miles southwest of downtown Chicago where Harlem Avenue, the famed four-lane thoroughfare that cuts through the city and then the suburbs, starts to lose steam. The storefront shops and pizzerias give way to longer expanses of space, and finally, on the edge of southwest suburban Frankfort in Will County, there are no drugstores or fast-food joints but sprawling, open, green farm fields. Here and there is an old barn, and then some rows of early summer corn, then another several open acres, freshly planted with more crops. Harlem Avenue quietly narrows to one lane in each direction and the number of cars drops precipitously. Up ahead is Laraway Road, and a right turn leads to an open swath of forest preserve land, thick with trees and wild grass. The land gets a little hillier, suggesting the terrain of southern Wisconsin.
But there's something else ahead on the road besides woods and chirping birds. Bright new signs: Lakeview Estates. Majestic Pines. Stone Creek — Lots now for sale! They show off another side of this pastoral place far from Chicago: new development. Huge brick homes have sprung up on the south side of Laraway Road west of Harlem Avenue, and nearby there's more excavated land with lot markers to assist would-be buyers. Heading west toward Joliet, the scene is repeated again and again, as farmland gives way to new subdivisions.
This area of Will County is one of the front lines in the battle for open space in Illinois — a battle that activists fear the state is losing. Illinois, they say, is falling behind its neighbors in its commitment to acquiring and managing undeveloped land. As land costs rise and suburbs spread farther and farther out, opportunities to preserve open space will be lost if more isn't done quickly. And, they say, even though Chicago's collar counties are where development is occurring now, citizens in those areas have a lot in common with downstate farmers and hunters in the race to preserve open lands.
When a Will County farmer sells his land to a developer and moves to central Illinois to roll his profit into another piece of farmland, his actions drive up land prices downstate, says Jonathan Goldman, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council Education Fund. That makes it tougher for farmers there to expand their holdings, if, for example, they wish to expand into more land for corn and ethanol production. And as land prices rise around the state, so do the costs for hunting groups that want parcels. "Once it's developed, it's gone. We're not making any more land," Goldman says. "That has now trickled down into the rest of Illinois."
Those pressing for more dollars for open space acquisition say Illinois could do more. A report issued in March by the Illinois Environmental Council Education Fund, along with The Trust for Public Land and The Nature Conservancy, put Illinois behind most of its Midwestern neighbors in state government spending on open space. The report found more bad news affecting the entire state:
• Even though Illinois boasts more than 1.34 million acres dedicated to outdoor recreation, most of those are not considered "high quality" natural areas.
• Between 1995 and 2000, the Chicago metropolitan region lost more than 140,000 acres of rural grasslands and wetlands.
• Statewide, Illinois has lost more than 90 percent of its original wetlands and 99.99 percent of its original prairie and has 424 state-listed and 24 federal-listed threatened or endangered species.
The Prairie State is at the confluence of several types of natural areas — woodlands in states north and east of us, prairies west of us and forests and swamps south of us — and is a prime spot on many migratory birds' routes. While we might not have the wilderness cachet of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin's North Woods or Minnesota's "10,000 lakes," Illinois nevertheless has some uniquely beautiful areas that are worth preserving.
The ecological reasons to preserve and manage open space are often the first to come to mind. Because of disappearing natural habitats, the richness of species here is declining by about 3 percent a year, according to Stephen Packard, director of Audubon's Chicago region. Salamanders, orchids, warblers, butterflies — all have become victims of Illinois' dearth of open space and lax management of the parcels that have been set aside.
Beyond that, most people intuitively understand that having open, natural areas is good for public health. Having areas to hike and bike encourages outdoor exercise, and keeping wetlands helps improve water quality.
There also are economic reasons to promote the acquisition and upkeep of natural spaces, advocates say. For instance, fishing, hunting and other wildlife-associated recreation generates nearly $4 billion in economic activity annually, the Illinois Environmental Council Education Fund report estimates. Millions of Illinoisans and other visitors come to Illinois' state parks each year — and when they come, they stay in local lodges and hotels. "That brings a lot of money into the state. It supports a lot of jobs in Illinois," Goldman says.
In a larger sense, having beautiful, unspoiled areas also can make a state a more attractive place to live — and relocate to. "Part of being happy means having rich surroundings," Packard says, "offering our children and our communities the opportunity to live a balanced life, which includes the richness of the natural world. Without it, we'd lose motivation for the rest."
State Rep. Beth Coulson, a Glenview Republican, first got into politics to fight the flooding that plagued her region north of Chicago. But in working on open space issues in the Illinois legislature, Coulson says she has found natural links with downstate hunters and farmers. She says many Illinoisans have reached a tipping point, where they realize the importance of preserving some open space before it's too late. "My sense is that the closer-in suburbs have reached it," she says.
Farther out from Chicago, "they're getting there because of the traffic." Farther still, farmers don't really want to be hemmed in by exurban developments without any easements as a buffer. And hunters, too, are realizing they need to act before it's too late.
"I think society is changing. I think people are better able to realize that you can plan well and have a better environment," Coulson says.
But despite this agreement on the importance of preserving open land, Illinois spent only $2.67 per capita on open space from 1999 to 2004, according to the report, compared to $9.80 in Wisconsin, $5.76 in Minnesota and $4.36 in Ohio. Illinois is in the bottom five of all 50 states when it comes to acres of open space in public ownership — and is dead last among the Midwestern states for the number of acres of open space per capita. More recently, Illinois' fiscal woes led to funds being diverted from conservation programs. In 2004, Gov. Rod Blagojevich famously proposed taking a one-year "holiday" from spending on open space and natural areas to shore up the state's budget — a statement that has kept open space activists on high alert ever since.
"When you compare, you see we've got to make up for lost time," says Susan Donovan, director of government relations for The Nature Conservancy. With land prices rising quickly in many areas, "we really do need to act now to get the most bang for our buck."
The state's two main sources for acquiring open land are the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Fund, which gives grants to local partners to provide outdoor recreation opportunities, and the Natural Areas Acquisition Fund, which helps acquire, preserve and maintain natural areas. Both are funded through the state's Real Estate Transfer Tax, which brings in a nice chunk of money as long as the real estate market booms. But the two programs also are an easy target for state budget strategists looking for extra dollars. Meanwhile, money for the $200 million Open Land Trust program, funded by the state's last big special capital budget in 1999, was discontinued after its four years ran out.
Those pushing for better protection of open land are pressing for inclusion in a future capital needs budget. They've already named their program — iSPACE, for Illinois Special Places Acquisition, Conservation and Enhancement — and would like to see $100 million a year dedicated to the cause, alongside spending on roads, mass transit, schools and the usual items a capital budget contains. The money would be used to acquire new lands, creating recreational opportunities, expanding hunting, improving water quality and funding habitat restoration and land management. "I think we are due, and if we have a capital budget, it should be included," Coulson says. "The only way we're going to get it [spending] back up there is with a capital budget."
Backers of the iSPACE proposal won a victory in spirit in May when the full Illinois Senate and a majority of the Illinois House voted to endorse $100 million in new funding for open space. The bipartisan effort drew support from all over the state. Those pushing for iSPACE include such diverse groups as Pheasants Forever, United Bowhunters of Illinois, the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club and the Illinois Audubon Society.
Ideally, its advocates say, iSPACE would be part of a comprehensive funding strategy for open lands acquisition and management that would include full funding for the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development fund and Natural Areas Acquisition Fund programs. Some advocates also have suggested the state consider other measures, including issuing general obligation bonds, increasing the sales tax by one-eighth of one cent, increasing the Real Estate Transfer Tax, adding a special sales tax on hunting and fishing equipment and increasing the garbage tipping fee — though iSPACE is the centerpiece.
Ironically, the budget diversions of recent years may have strengthened advocates of open space, at least organizationally. After budget cuts appeared a few years ago, open space advocates made a point of broadening their reach — statewide and across different groups, from sportsmen and taxidermists to bird watchers and bicyclists. Farmers were nudged to protect easements for endangered species. In northeastern Illinois, newly developing outer suburbs "have enormous opportunities to act," says Steve Buchtel, Southland coordinator for the Chicago Bicycle Federation, which is working to build a 26-mile-long network of bicycling trails in the southern suburbs. "It's important to get people to think about what kind of [land] uses they'll want to have over their lifetime."
For its part, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources says it's not necessarily at odds with what the advocacy groups want. But the department also has to work with the money it is given, says Deputy Director Deborah Stone.
Recognizing the tight fiscal climate — in fiscal year 2005, Illinois had the largest state deficit in the nation — the natural resources agency has tried to harness federal matching funds and private help where possible to preserve open land, Stone says.
For example, in the past year, the department helped acquire through an unusual partnership about 113 acres around the Black Crown Marsh straddling Lake and McHenry counties in northeastern Illinois. The sale of the property — the former home of the Oakmount Game Club — was facilitated by the private Corporation for Open Lands, which snapped up the land on behalf of the state and the Lake County Forest Preserve District. Altogether, about 3,000 local- and state-managed acres have been protected in the area. The latest piece cost about $5 million and was paid for with state Natural Areas Acquisition Fund money, federal Land and Water Conservation program funds and a private donation through the Illinois Conservation Foundation.
In the Alton Bluffs area and the lower Sangamon River watershed, the state has helped get federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife grants to landowners to restore almost 600 acres of open space. Much of the work was done by the landowners and natural resources department staff, Stone says. By getting creative and taking advantage of opportunities like that, "we can get a lot of bang for very little buck," Stone says. "We think recreation is important, and we think preserving the natural history is important, and we do the best we can with the resources that we have."
There are some other bright spots. After a couple lean years, the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development program in fiscal year 2007 gave out about $32 million in grants, the highest amount in the program's history, Stone says. Also, the state spent about $15 million on the Hunting Heritage Protection Act program this fiscal year, mostly to acquire new land. And the governor's proposed budget for 2008 includes about $10 million for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which uses state money to leverage federal and private funds to buy easements.
If more funds do become available, the state will be ready, Stone says — and open space advocates agree — with two important tools: the State Wildlife Action Plan and the Natural Areas Inventory. The first is a tally of which wildlife and plant species are most in need of protection and which areas they use for habitats; the second categorizes which land areas should be preserved first. In the second year of a three-year plan, the Natural Areas Inventory will update its data and rank land parcels according to their quality. "Illinois was really the first state in the nation to do an effort like this, but it was 30 years ago," Stone says of the Natural Areas Inventory. The best part is that the document will be put online — hopefully sometime next year — and made accessible to local governments and private organizations that want to coordinate open lands work.
Donovan, of The Nature Conservancy, says those plans will give the state and private organizations the information they need to act quickly, as long as the money comes in. "We've done our homework," she says.
"There are a lot of different interests that are coming together," she adds, sounding an optimistic note for more funding this year. "I'm very hopeful. I feel like it's a very important juncture. I'm hopeful that we can make the case."
Stephanie Zimmermann is a reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and a frequent contributor to Illinois Issues.
Illinois Issues, July/August 2007
