Woods & Wetlands Sprawl and Our Environment

Proposed Overdevelopment Updated 7/9/08
Partial listing of only the W&W Region
Red Oak School Woods		Costco/ Lake Forest
Fiddle Creek	Baker Wetlands	Sequoit Creek Watershed Plan	Indian Creek, Lincolnshire
Antioch Bog vs. Neumann Homes	Lochanora Watershed vs. Lake Zurich School Plans	Vernon Hills NIKE Site	Lake Napa Suwe, Wauconda
Tools & Alternatives
		Zoning Change Requirements	Erosion Control Enforcement
How to Save Your Wetland	ADID Wetlands	USACOE Wetlands Destruction Public Comment Notices	National Environmental Policy Act: EIS Requirements
Information relevant to all sprawl sites.		Density: Good or Bad?

Because 40% of our territory was once wetlands, most proposed developments include plans to drain, fill, and build on them. The US Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for working with other agencies to enforce the Clean Water Act, including section 404 which regulates the dredging and filling of wetlands. Much of the rest of our territory was once prairies, and although the soils they deposited are extremely valuable for their native flora, ability to absorb rain water, ability to sequester CO2, and their agricultural productivity, there are no laws protecting them from development. Recent improvements to the Lake County Watershed Development Ordinance require larger buffers (100 ft.) around wetlands, and since this tends to be wet prairies, it is a start. We are working with our elected representatives to get more protection for these and other habitats that support our state threatened and endangered plant and animal species. In the mean time, most of our work to Save Our Undeveloped Land will focus on using existing laws to protect wetlands.
 
 

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Sierra Club Policy
Sierra Club has had wetland policy since 1987, and it addresses the heart of the issues we are now facing with every development.

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