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Origins:
In 1996, Representative Jerry Weller (R-IL) introduced the “Calumet Ecological Park Act of 1996” in the U.S. Congress. The Act passed and required the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of the feasibility of establishing a Calumet Ecological Park in the vicinity of Chicago, Illinois. The National Park Service (NPS) conducted this study and published its draft study report in early 1997. NPS concluded that the area was suitable for consideration as a National Heritage Area, rather than a ecological park. This National Heritage Area designation would allow the area to be recognized for its unique ecological features as well as the historical, cultural and economic features of importance to the region.
National Heritage Area would work to protect the region between the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the Illinois National Heritage Corridor. The federal designation of a National Heritage Area would assist the local community in working to preserve its native prairies, marshes and diverse wildlife through the various corridors of waterways along the Grand Calumet River, Little Calumet River, Cal-Sag Channel and Lake Calumet. The heritage area would also allow the region to preserve, restore and celebrate its historical, cultural and economic features.
The Calumet region has a unique labor history. The steelmaking industry thrived in southeast Chicago. The labor movement here made the history books and helped design the area's special cultural heritage. The industrial and cultural history of the region occurred amid a wonderous natural setting, including ecologically-significant wetland and prairie habitats. A National Heritage Area would promote the historical, cultural, environmental, recreational and economic features of the region.
In terms of environmental protection, the heritage area would follow a pattern emerging in urban areas to preserve non-adjacent sites located conveniently for traveling from one to another. These natural areas, together with the historical and cultural assets of the adjacent communities, will make the Calumet region a major recreation attraction. This, in turn, will generate economic benefits.
A map of the original park proposal submitted to Congress by Rep. Weller in 1996 outlines the key natural corridors. Here is a written description:
Corridor A: is a 10,138 acre rectangular tract in Chicago surrounding Lake Calumet. The natural areas include the remaining Lake Calumet Marshes, which contains the largest Black-crowned Night-Heron rookery in the Midwest (1,050 nests in 1996). The marshes provide nesting for a number of State of Illinois endangered and threatened species. Several Cook County Forest preserves and City parks involve large areas of open space. The area is largely undeveloped and lacks infrastructural development and buildings. Lake Calumet is nearly a square mile of water surface, and the entire corridor is ready for ecological protection and recreational expansion. The Pulman historic community is situated on the west edge of the corridor and it is well served by I-94.
Corridor B: is a 2,880 acre area following the course of the Little Calumet River and the Calumet-Sag Channel and terminates on its west end with the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage corridor. Much of the river edge is undeveloped and the Calumet-Sag has large bordering edges of open space on both sides. There are a number of public parks and forest preserves adjacent to the corridor. Corridor B is already a major recreational and commercial area in the Chicago region, and it is an excellent area for riverine ecological protection due to the extensive open spaces along the corridor, and enhanced recreational activity of an already important function.
Corridor C: is a 4,243 acre riverine corridor following a portion of the Little Calumet River in Illinois. The entire corridor passes through much public land; forest preserves, public parks, school properties, golf courses, and high quality prairies like the Thorton Fractional North Prairie, and the Calumet City Prairie. Although some sections of this corridor have been ditched and urbanized, flooding of the Little Calumet River remains a major problem, and the quantity of open space remaining provides a potential solution through the management of efficient water control mechanisms. This portion the Little Calumet River is not navigable, but the already existing recreational areas are extensive and could easily be enhanced.
Corridor D: is a 3,200 acre area riverine segment terminating on the north at Lake Michigan. Although the upper Calumet River is heavily industrialized there remain many open spaces along the river, and the lower section is largely open space and undeveloped. The area north of the junction of the Grand Calumet and Little Calumet rivers is navigable and an important commercial and recreational waterway. There are many potential easement open spaces along the Calumet River.
Corridor E: is a 3,680 acre tract, practically all of which is in Indiana, following the Lake Michigan shoreline and connecting with the Grand Calumet River by way of Cline Avenue on the east. There are extensive areas of open space along both sides of Cline Avenue, including areas with many sand features of former Lake Michigan shorelines. Lake Michigan open areas include Calumet Park in Chicago and, in Indiana, Hammond Beach, Whilahala Beach County Park, Whiting Park and Jeorse Park in East Chicago. The corridor also includes the historic Indian Harbor Canal and the Lake George Canal both designed originally to help drain excess waters from the Calumet marsh area and afford navigability to the Indiana industrial area. The Migrant Trap adjacent to the Illinois state line is a major migration flyway stop for migrant birds. The Hammond Marina and Buffington Harbor in Gary both have extensive plans for recreational development and some of this will include recreational development of open space.
Corridor F: Grand Calumet River Corridor (Indiana): is a 4,460 acre riverine corridor terminating on the east at the Marquette Lagoons in Gary's Marquette Park. Much of the river corridor in Gary sits on private property without any structural development. Open spaces abound on both sides of the river and it passes through a number of parks, school properties, and other municipal areas. There are also open spaces along railroads.
Corridor G: Little Calumet River Corridor (Indiana): is a 5,120 acre tract extending across the entire width of Lake County, Indiana. Within a few miles of the Illinois state line are open spaces in Riverside Park, Wicker Memorial Park, Optimist Park, Woodmar Golf Club, Gleason Park and the Northwest Campus of Indiana University. From Cline Avenue eastward for nearly 12 linear miles, the Little Calumet River passes through a series of open spaces, wetlands, abandoned farmlands, forests, almost the entire area of which lies undeveloped. A major tributary, Deep River, flows off the front of the Valparaiso Moraine and joins the Little Calumet River at the Liverpool area of Gary, and contains its own series of open spaces and parks.
Note: For additional information of the Illinois portion of the proposed Park, see: J.E.Landing, Conceptual Plan for the Lake Calumet Ecological Park, Chicago, Illinois, Lake Calumet Study Committee, submitted to the Il. Dept. of Conservation (now Illinois Department of Natural Resources), Springfield, Il., non-game division, August, 1986.
Or contact:
Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter |
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