After months of passing new laws and deciding how taxpayer money will be allocated, State elected officials are leaving the Illinois Capitol as this year’s legislative session comes to a close. Openlands has been working to improve conservation laws in Illinois and is excited to report back on key wins and where we will continue to work to improve nature in our region and across the state.
In an effort to build advocates for nature, Openlands sponsored a bus for the second annual Conservation Lobby Day on April 9th. Conservation Lobby Day is an opportunity to bring people to the Capitol to speak directly with their elected officials about the importance of conservation. This type of advocacy highlights the importance of nature and played a crucial role in passing key legislation. As always, change cannot happen alone, and success can be attributed to the work of engaged individuals, conservation organizations, Native American nations, and many others. Keep reading to learn about two of the successful bills that Openlands helped pass this year and positive steps towards protecting and creating the Lake County Greenway for future generations.
In Illinois, Township Open Space Districts are a special governmental body that owns open land to conserve nature, flora, fauna, and natural resources. These open spaces can include trails and paths, agricultural areas, recreational opportunities, and other conservation uses. Following concerns about the sale of protected land, Openlands supported a locally driven policy change that requires local Township populations to vote and approve any sale of open land exceeding 12 acres, thereby allowing the community to participate in decision-making for their natural resources.
This bill successfully passed with bipartisan support, giving local communities a voice in decisions that impact their land and water.
Indigenous Peoples’ Conservation Rights Act, HB 1605
Indigenous nations were the first stewards of this land and hold essential cultural and traditional ecological knowledge that remains crucial to land preservation work. Openlands has been working alongside conservation partners like The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy as well as Native American partners like the Ho-Chunk Nation, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, the American Indian Center of Chicago to change Illinois law to allow Native American tribes to enter into voluntary agreements with landowners to steward and protect lands.
When a landowner wants to protect nature on their land in perpetuity, they can work with Land Trusts, such as Openlands, to establish a legal agreement known as a conservation easement. This conservation easement agreement enables the landowner to retain ownership of the land while granting another entity the development rights, thereby ensuring the land’s future use is preserved for conservation purposes.
This month, after much advocacy and bipartisan support, Illinois approved a law that includes Native American tribes in the list of entities that can hold and manage conservation easements, allowing landowners more options for conserving their land through meaningful partnerships.
The State Budgets Land Conservation Updates
While we experienced some successes this session for people and land, the conservation community also witnessed a series of funding sweeps that set back land conservation in detrimental ways. Specifically, the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) Fund had $10 million swept from its appropriation, and $2 million was transferred from the Natural Areas Acquisition Fund to cover other areas of spending. While this budget necessitated difficult decisions, these cuts further deplete Illinois’ already limited resources for land protection and conservation efforts.
A bright spot in the budget bill was the reappropriation of the $1 million in funding to support a new Lake County Greenway, which Openlands has long championed. Openlands celebrated the proposed transfer of the state-owned land to the Lake County Forest Preserve District, which staff will work with State and County officials to ensure is transferred in the coming months. The investment comes after the state ceased completion of the proposed “Tri-County Access project” in 2019, an effort by the Illinois Tollway to extend highways through northwest Cook County, Lake County, and McHenry County. With this rare opportunity to connect massive landscapes across Illinois through a public greenway, a planning and visioning process is set to commence this summer. After successfully advocating for the reappropriation of planning funds in the fiscal 2026 budget, Openlands looks forward to collaborating with the Lake County Forest Preserves to advance the protection of the new greenway.
The lands that hold our most valuable natural resources are often seen as a commodity – a space to build upon, to profit from, without consideration of all that may be lost in the process. Humans are part of the land, and must treat it as something that is an extension of themselves, rather than something to use and extract from. Openlands will continue its work this summer on protecting wetlands and promoting river access for all, and encourages you to get involved in our efforts. The bills passed, the funding won, and the people educated and empowered to advocate for their land are essential wins for meaningful land stewardship in Illinois.
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