Funding Opportunity: Protecting natural resources and the environment
Chicago is internationally known for its lakefront park system, covering 26 of the city’s 30 miles of shoreline. The region has 300,000 acres of protected land in municipal parks, private conservation easements and county, state and federal holdings. Open space in the region is well used. In a 2002 poll, more than 80 percent of the residents of the seven-county region said they had visited a park in the past year, averaging more than a dozen visits. Still, 4.8 million people, or 56% of the residents of northeastern Illinois, lack adequate easy access to parks. In 1996, Illinois ranked 48th in the nation in the amount of public recreation land per acre.
Extensive, ever-outward development over the past four decades has broken up the natural connections between open areas. This fragmentation of the landscape threatens many species of wildlife and plants, and endangers the biodiversity of northeastern Illinois. In the state, 114 animal species are considered endangered or threatened as well as 237 plant species.
Lake Michigan, the dominant natural feature of the Chicago region, is not only an abundant source of water but also an unrivaled place of beauty, refreshment and recreation. But Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes are endangered by poorly understood threats, such as the impact of climate change on water quality and ecosystems and the effect on the food web of at least 185 invasive aquatic species.
Many of the region's rivers and smaller lakes fail to meet water quality standards for swimming or fishing because of polluted runoff from developed areas and farms, wastewater discharges and overflows from combined sewer systems. More than 120 wastewater treatment facilities are in use throughout the region, routinely discharging treated—but not fully clean—wastewater into streams.
The Trust has provided support to a number of key initiatives seeking to improve the quality of air and water in our region. These initiatives promote changes at both the policy and practice levels. Some require changing state laws, while others provide support to local governments, nonprofit and for-profit sectors to study and implement practices that remove harmful toxins from the environment.
Grant making in Environment supports Community Goal #4: Transforming the region through sustainable development.
Outcomes Sought
- Increased amount and quality of open space available for our residents, with 50,000 additional acres preserved region-wide by 2020.
- Functional connections among green spaces, through the implementation of the Northeastern Illinois Regional Greenways and Trails Plan, with 900 miles of trails operative by 2020.
- Increased amount of farmland and urban land preserved for local agricultural production for human consumption.
- Progressive reduction in water usage through implementation of water demand management.
- Improvements in the prevention and management of flooding.
- Improved performance on indicators of air and water quality.
Our Funding
The Trust will work with CMAP, funders and nonprofit organizations who are leaders in this area to explore the next phase of this work, given the GO TO 2040 Plan and the accomplishments of various initiatives supported by the Trust. Due to funding limitations, it is anticipated that the Trust will provide support for work already underway, or seek opportunities to leverage other public and private funding from donors. There will be no RFP process in protecting natural resources and the environment.
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Ngoan Le, Vice President of Program, at
