Openlands Completes 500 Miles of Illinois Water Trails, Continues Burnham's Legacy

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Openlands Completes 500 Miles of Illinois Water Trails, Continues Burnham's Legacy

First-of-its-kind plan creates valuable resource for people of all ages, interests & abilities

June 5, 2009
Contact: Charles Mutscheller
312-863-6260

CHICAGO, IL—Regional land and water conservation leader Openlands marks the completion of 500 miles of water trails in northeastern Illinois, a decade-long mutli-million dollar effort connecting area residents and visitors to a valuable natural resource. A green legacy project of this year’s Burnham Plan Centennial, the achievement will be celebrated on Sunday, June 14, at 10:00 AM, at Gouwens Park, along the Little Calumet River, in South Holland, Illinois.

“When we began this project more than ten years ago, it was the first initiative of its kind in a metropolitan region in the United States,” explains Openlands executive director Jerry Adelmann. “We looked at our system of creeks, rivers, streams, and Lake Michigan more comprehensively and identified ways to unify them into a rich and vast resource for people of all ages, interests, and abilities.”

Today, states across the country, from Maryland to Minnesota to Washington, are following suit. They are looking more broadly at the values of local waterways, which include educational, recreational, and research opportunities; habitat for wildlife; water quality enhancements; and even financial benefits for nearby communities—studies indicate that property values of homes and businesses near trails, parks, and other outdoor recreational facilities generally go up.

Our region’s extensive water trails network emerged from the Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Trail Plan, which Openlands co-authored with the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC), and the Illinois Paddling Council (IPC) in 1998. With the plan’s framework for non-motorized boating activities established, these partners, as well as dozens of government units, NGOs, and business community leaders, set in motion a ten-year process to complete an extensive system of water trails on the Little Calumet, DuPage, and Fox rivers and other area waterways.

“An effort of this magnitude really requires robust and enduring partnerships for success,” asserts IPC president Tom Lindblade. Collaboratively, partner agencies identified locations for additional launch sites, secured funding for acquisition and construction, and developed and installed signage. Nearly 50 new launch sites throughout and signage along more than 250 miles of area waterways have been added since the undertaking began.

The Grand Victoria Foundation has been the principal funder of northeastern Illinois’ water trails, providing ongoing support since the plan’s inception. “This undertaking almost seemed tailor-made for our mission of providing strategic funding to Illinois organizations interested in long-lasting economic, educational, and environmental change,” states the foundation’s executive director Nancy Fishman. “We are thrilled to witness the fruition of this project.”

For many years, federal and state dollars were directed at cleaning up our nation’s rivers and lakes, yet relatively little went toward making them more accessible to the people who lived near or visited them. “Now people have a way to connect with nearby waterways in a meaningful way—this is especially important in the nation’s third largest metropolitan region, where links to the natural world can be elusive,” says Dave Gouwens, parks manager for the Village of South Holland, Illinois.

It is this relationship that makes northeastern Illinois water trails an important legacy of Daniel Burnham’s historic Plan of Chicago, which envisioned an interconnected network of open spaces and natural areas, or “green infrastructure,” consisting of greenways, biking and hiking trails, waterways, wetlands, parks, forest preserves, and native plant vegetation.

“Achieving this milestone helps people to better understand the environmental, educational, and economic value of investing in green infrastructure—both here and across the country,” adds Adelmann. “Already, we’re connecting with northwest Indiana to create an incredibly wide-ranging and diverse network of water trails in this region.”

Founded in 1963, Openlands protects the natural and open spaces of northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region to ensure cleaner air and water, protect natural habitats and wildlife, and help balance and enrich our lives. For more information about Openlands, please visit www.openlands.org.

About the Burnham Plan Centennial

Openlands is one of 250 Burnham Plan Centennial Partner institutions offering hundreds of ways for people of Chicago's three-state metropolitan region to dream big and plan boldly. This 100th anniversary of the Plan of Chicago is once again stirring a diverse community to action on a grand scale—building the best possible quality of life for all. Visit www.burnhamplan100.org to see what you can do. And aim high!

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