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Woods & WetlandsNews |
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Woods & WetlandsNews |
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In This Issue |
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CALENDAR: Meetings & Outings |
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June 8 Public Meeting: Rain Man |
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July 13 Public Meeting: Heart of Tibet |
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Loss of Open Space Remains a Challenge |
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On-line Petition to Oppose Route 53 |
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$250M Clean Energy Trust Fund! |
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W&W News Editor Needed |
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Lake County Board Ponders Crossroads Study |
| { Meetings | O Outings |
Early history reveals that our region's "rivers" were so slow moving that they were more like wetlands, and the soils were so porous that they didn't need rivers. The plants that created these soils, and thrived in them, relied on the minerals drawn up from the water table by the evaporating water, and on periodic fires set by Indians and lightning. Most of the land in our region was wet. Very wet. Farmers installed miles of jointed pipes (called tiles) in the wet ground to carry the water to open ditches, which led to lakes and rivers. As farms give way to development, the tiles are replaced by sewers with the same function.
As evidence, the Des Plaines river, now deep year round, previously vanished north of Deerfield in the summer. A trip down the river reveals one "outfall" after another. The storm sewer outfalls pour water collected from streets, strained from your yard, and skimmed from detention ponds. These carry the greatest load of pollutants: fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, salt, oil; and the sheer volume of water they deliver generates the river as we know it. Other outfalls come from municipal septic treatment plants and industries, and add more pollutants to the water.
The native soils held a reservoir of water that the deep rooted native plants tapped through months of drought. The deep soils that existed where our communities are built have been eroded away by farming, and scraped away by earth movers. A few scant inches of topsoil supports sod: shallow rooted exotic grasses from Europe (strangely called Kentucky Bluegrass). Rainwater quickly drains off of this "grass carpet," and it dries out within a few weeks.
The rivers are not the only recipients of water runoff. Sometimes during the destruction of a wetland by an ill-conceived development, the developers drain the doomed wetland into an adjacent one. Presently, the government incorrectly maintains that wetlands benefit by receiving this water, and there is no law preventing this practice, even if the wetland is home to endangered species. As Jim points out in his paper, the rapid flow of contaminated water from development runoff inflicts damage to the sensitive wetland ecosystems.
Restoring stability will require generating and adopting new development practices appropriate for this region, rather than superimposing large scale reconstruction of the landscape. So far human efforts to contain and mitigate flooding have ignored the ability of wetland ecosystems to sustainably absorb water (as well as CO2 and other pollutants). The US Army Corps of Engineers only recently recognized wetlands as primary flood control measures, and have begun "constructing wetlands" along the Des Plaines. These wetlands, however, receive their water from unsteady surface flows, rather than from rain and steady seepage through porous soils. According to Patchett this kills native aquatic plants, and attracts exotic species characteristic of stress (cattails, canary grass).
Meanwhile, as a result of the continuing drainage of our "hydric" soils, the latest FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) maps, which drive flood insurance rates, indicate an increase of the floodplain elevation of the Des Plaines river by three (3) feet! To reverse this, we need to ask our municipalities to adopt development standards that preserve not only our wetlands, but also our deep topsoil. Rather than letting developers scrape all the topsoil from a site, we should only allow the soil around the buildings to be disturbed, and require mining permits for the type of excavation that is now typical.
In addition, we need learn to how we can reintroduce our rich native
ecosystem on our own properties. Come hear Jim’s ideas about how to make
the best of your rain. This program was video-taped, and will appear on
Public Access TV (Channel 4) in most Lake County areas.
| Use These Jewel Shop & Share and Dominick's Benefit
Days Coupons.
Just click Coupons, print them out, and turn them in at the checkout on any of the designated days. |
Chain O' Lakes State Park, Illinois Beach State Park, Red Wing Slough State Natural Area, Moraine Hills State Park (Black Crown Marsh) Do it SOON! : 217-782-2000 |
We believe that much more of the beauty of this county should be preserved, to protect our quality of life, and to save our remaining wildlife. Governor Ryan and the state legislature has heard our concerns, and they have passed the $160M State Open Lands Trust Initiative. With 7% of the population, and only 2% of the state open lands, we think that the largest share of that money should come to Lake County, home to more state threatened and endangered species than any other county in Illinois.
We are promoting the expansion of our region's existing IL State Parks and Natural Areas. Most of them presently enjoy the benefit of undeveloped lands buffering them on several sides. But most of these lands are at risk from development, and should be saved to protect the precious Preserves we presently enjoy.
These efforts will help to save the best and most critical wild areas. However, nearly 90% of our territory will still be vulnerable to development. As we witness this open space being covered over at such a rapid pace, many of us feel an enormous sense of loss of the quality that first attracted us to this area. In addition, the large expanses of wetlands and fields outside our Forest Preserves are relied upon heavily by the herons, egrets, and other ranging wildlife that we seek to retain.
People in our region have shown courage at the polls by committing to the expensive proposition to buy land for open space. Nevertheless, we lag behind other collar counties in the percentage of open lands we have protected. If we try to preserve more species while preserving less open space than our neighboring counties, we will likely fail.
To save our verdant landscapes we need to look beyond land purchase, and question why development continues to sprawl into open space, far from commercial centers, jobs, and workers. The answer lies in just who is paying for the infrastructure.
Citizens Organized for Sound Transportation has placed an on-line
petition opposing the extension of Route 53 through Lake, McHenry and Will
counties at www.ethepeople.com. The petition can be found under the issue
of "Roads & Transportation" and it is titled "Opposition to the Route
53 Extension."
| www.ethepeople.com |
Lake County legislators to the Illinois General Assembly played a crucial role in pushing legislation that precipitated this deal: Peterson, Moore, Geo-Karis, plus support from Garret, and Gash. Thanks to all who voiced concern.
The sobering part of this story is that this is a small ransom paid
to clear the way for their $4.9B windfall coal plant sale profits without
first cleaning up their dirty emissions. That should have been required
as part of the $5B-$10B "stranded cost" bailout deal the IL utilities got
from the rate payers last year, and has now been put off once more. We
will need to continue to apply pressure to Mission Energy, the new owners,
to clean up these plants.
On May 10 the Environmental Law and Policy Center formally presented the Crossroads study for the first time to Lake County board members. Members of the Lake County Planning, Building and Zoning Committee and the Public Works Committee heard firsthand the projected impacts of the proposed extension of Route 53 at a joint committee meeting. ELPC staff member Alexander "Sandy" Ewing, and Norman Marshall, a consultant for ELPC from Resource Systems Group, Inc., gave the presentation.
The message of the presentation was simple: building Route 53 will only exacerbate congestion. It simply will not solve the traffic congestion problems in Lake County. The group called the plan a waste of money that will increase the county's population by 60,000 residents over and above the state's own no-build population forecast increase of 250,000 residents. The road is not anticipated to invite the same gains in employment. While it draws new population to the NW, job growth is expected in the SE, and this will cause more traffic.
Building Route 53 will result in more people making more trips in Lake County, land use and distribution effects will increase auto trip lengths, and the addition of a new road will increase the use of autos over other modes of transportation. A better solution to reduce traffic congestion is to discard the Route 53 proposal and implement the Crossroads plan, a proposal to improve local roads.
Reaction to the Crossroads presentation by committee members was mixed. But what truly compounded the issues at hand was the unexpected presentation by IDOT at the meeting. Members of the Lake County Transportation Improvement Project, and staff from the Illinois Department of Transportation were allowed to present immediately after ELPC. What resulted was a difference of opinion regarding exactly how many people would be attracted to Lake County if Route 53 were built, in what was clearly an attempt by the state to erode the credibility of the ELPC study. However, the presence of both groups at the same meeting also clearly recognized the Crossroads’ plan as a credible alternative to the state's current study.
At the end of both presentations, discussion ensued over the differences
in population increases. The state abandoned their ridiculous position
that the road will not be responsible for growth, and instead contested
exactly how much growth. Ironically, the focus of the discussions concerned
computer models, data and forecasting techniques, as opposed to issues
of reducing traffic congestion and improving the quality of life for Lake
County residents.
| Action: Call your board members and ask them to support a formal position of neutrality on the Rt. 53 extension while they ponder alternatives, and to rescind the endorsement that is still on the books from the pro-development board. |
While the state continues to bombard the elected officials of the state,
Lake County and local municipalities with data projections, forecasts and
computer models, it is up to the residents of Lake County to police the
scene for what is really important: preserving and improving the quality
of life in Lake County. The Crossroads plan offers a clear solution to
reducing traffic congestion in Lake County. The state's latest $7.8 million
study has yet to prove the same. Officials need to be reminded that the
Crossroads plan is the plan backed by volunteer organizations and citizens
of Lake County, and that the Crossroads plan is based upon the state's
own plans and programs. Now there's something for the Lake County Board
to ponder.
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