Programs

Forest Preserve Initiative

Friends of the Parks’ (FOTP) Forest Preserve Program was initiated in 2000 in response to a rapid decline in the health of the Cook County Forest Preserves due to the mismanagement of the Forest Preserve District by the administration, the waste of tax dollars and the lack of essential land management practices of the 68,000 acres of forest preserves. These deficiencies were revealed through a joint study of the preserves that was undertaken by FOTP and the Friends of the Forest Preserves (FOTFP) in 2000 and 2001.

The urgency and extent of the problems in the forest preserves revealed by our joint study made it clear that older, slower ways of building constituency and advocating for the preserves were no longer sufficient to keep the preserves healthy, and that new approaches and more partners were necessary to make a difference.   In 2000 FOTP expanded our role of protecting, preserving and improving parks to protecting and improving the forest preserves in Cook County, as well.

Through its Forest Preserve Initiative, FOTP has piloted a number of innovative programs in service of the preserves and the communities for whom they were created, including:

  • A summer job program for 25 high school teens in a local forest preserve
  • A “Forest Preserves or Bust Bus Tour” that provides exposure for 20 – 40 people to three area forest preserves and the naturalists and volunteers taking care of them
  • Development and ongoing promotion and distribution of a brochure entitled, “10 City Escapes” that describes 10 excursions to local forest preserves that can be accessed by public transportation
  • Development of a curriculum of ecological service and scientific study for high school students involved in our Adopt-a-Preserve Program.

Goals of the Forest Preserve Initiative:

  1. Ensure Forest Preserve land and other open spaces remain protected by advocating for sound land policies and guardianship by the agencies entrusted with their care.
  2. Support and expand volunteer stewardship in natural areas.
  3. Strengthen and diversify citizen involvement in and advocacy for forest preserves.
  4. Involve more urban youth in enjoying and caring for their natural inheritance through natural area-based environmental education and service learning opportunities, especially youth in Chicago’s underserved inner-city high schools.