For several years we have worked together to find additional public revenue needed to fully protect and restore the Cook County Forest Preserves. A strong community support evolved, and polling showed that a majority of likely Cook County voters would support a referendum that would put the Cook County Forest Preserves on sustainable financial footing and advance the goals of the Next Century Conservation Plan.
In early October we asked that you let your Forest Preserve Commissioner and President Preckwinkle know that you support their vote that would allow a referendum to be placed on the March 2020 primary ballot. Thank you!
We want to let you know, that even though most Commissioners were in support of doing so, the matter was not advanced. We worked long and hard to get to this hopeful spot and are deeply disappointed that a referendum will not move forward. We will continue to advocate for the needs of the Forest Preserves, but it is also important to recognize that there is no easy fix.
It has never been easy to protect this unique and valuable asset. Remember that Forest Preserve founders Jens Jensen and Dwight Perkins lost repeated legal challenges. They were defeated four times, but each time they refused to give up because they were deeply committed to protecting nature for generations to come. We, too, must continue to press forward.
We are so grateful for all your efforts to date. And we hope we can continue to count on you in the years to come.
