What is Chicago Wilderness?

Chicago Wilderness is a regional alliance that connects people and nature. We are more than 250 organizations that work together to restore local nature and improve the quality of life for all who live here, by protecting the lands and waters on which we all depend.

Why Form an Alliance?Isn’t Chicago Wilderness an Oxymoron?

Since its founding in 1996, the Chicago Wilderness

alliance has sought to address challenges at a regional scale, recognizing that nature spans geopolitical boundaries and that only by working together could we achieve positive change for the people and nature within this region.

Who is Chicago Wilderness?• Local, state and federal agencies• NGOs• Regional planning organizations• Chicago Wilderness Corporate Council• Cultural and educational institutions • Volunteer groups• Watershed groups• Municipalities• Faith-based groups

A Strategy for Biodiversity Preservation

Part I – Atlas of Biodiversity (1996 revised 2011)

• Raise awareness

Part II – Biodiversity Recovery Plan (1999)

• Desired state• Conservation Targets (prioritized)• Threats• Tools & Needed actions

Part III – Report Card (2006)• Tracking results

3 stages - 3 documents

The Trilogy

Awareness

Planning

Tracking

• Status of biodiversity in the region

• Overview of threats facing each natural community

• Identifies priority conservation targets for the region

• Recovery goals and strategies for species, communities, landscapes

• Recommended conservation actions and communication strategies

• Full Plan (195 pages)• Summary Plan (28 pages)• A Guide to the Plan (8 pages)

Green Infrastructure

Vision

Climate Change

Leave No Child Inside

Restoration &

Management

Biodiversity Recovery Plan

Strategic Initiatives of Chicago Wilderness

Green Infrastructure VisionThe GIV is our action plan for creating

a region where nature is accessible to all residents and the built environment reflects our commitment to sustaining a healthy environment for today, and for generations to come.

Green Infrastructure ??

But Seriously, What is Green Infrastructure?

• Chicago Wilderness Definition:– Green Infrastructure – interconnected network of

natural areas and open space that conserves ecosystem values and functions that sustain our society.

– Which is based on definitions used and published by The Conservation Fund and the book Green Infrastructure by Benedict and McMahon

What is Green Infrastructure?

• Contrast that definition with that of USEPA:An approach to wet weather management that is cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. Green infrastructure management approaches and technologies infiltrate, evapo-transpire, capture, and reuse storm water to maintain or restore natural hydrologies. --- which is more focused on water as it may be used here in Sweetwater.

CW Original Project Purpose

Develop a tangible, green infrastructure vision that reflected the goals and recommendations of the Biodiversity Recovery Plan.

Project Approach• Held a series of workshops with CW

members and resource agencies – over 90 participants– Initial workshop with Metropolis 2020– Follow-up meetings w/NE Illinois advisors

(corrections and additions)– Workshop in SE Wisconsin– Workshop in NW Indiana– Input from City of Chicago green infrastructure

process

The Background Data• Baseline data included:

– Streams and rivers– Floodplains– Wetlands and lakes– Woodlands– Grasslands– Natural areas– Publicly owned natural lands– Watershed boundaries

The Green Infrastructure Vision is a graphical representation of the large-scale, regional goals for biodiversity protection and restoration in the BRP. It provides a framework for getting from here…

The Green Infrastructure Vision is a graphical representation of the large-scale, regional goals for biodiversity protection and restoration in the BRP. It provides a framework for getting from here…to here.

Summary• Over 140 resource protection areas

identified, totaling over 1.8 million acres • Compares to:

–360,000+ acres of protected public natural open space in Chicago Wilderness

–over 6 million total acres within the 3-state assessment area

• Green Infrastructure Vision at four scales:– Regional - by working with regional planning agencies

incorporate conservation development principles and natural resource preservation and stewardship into land use and transportation plans.

– Community - by incorporating principles of biodiversity conservation, sustainability, and people-friendly design into land use plans and ordinances.

– Neighborhood - by promoting the preservation of natural spaces, conservation design and access to nature into developing communities, and

– Site - by promoting native landscaping, the use of rain gardens and rain barrels, and through the greening of schoolyards and other community open spaces.

Ongoing GIV Implementation• Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge & ICC Pilot• Millennium Reserve & Calumet ICC Pilot• S.W.A.T. – Sustainable Watershed Action Team• Knowledge Base Pilot• CW Outreach Plan• Field Museum GI Workshop Series• Environmental Practice GI Theme Issue• Chicago GI Plan• NW Indiana Regional Plan• Transportation Initiative• Trees and Green Infrastructure initiative

ImplementationFocus Areas

Develop and disseminate tools

Sustainability Guide for Municipalities Conservation Design:

Model Ordinance Cost/benefit analysis

Natural Landscaping Guide

• Local jurisdictions were unfamiliar with GI concepts and conservation planning

CMAP GoTo 2040 Plan“Goal: Increase Conservation Open Space from

250,000 to 400,000 acres”

A top GO TO 2040 priority is to expand the green infrastructure network:

– Increase parks. Provide more parks in developed areas to increase park accessibility.

– Preserve natural areas. Preserve the most important natural areas in the region.

– Make connections. Provide functional connections between parks and preserves, using the green infrastructure network as a design concept.

Recommendations

Refinement of the CW Green Infrastructure Vision

August 2, 2011

• Large blocks of unfragmented forests that support

forest interior and neo-tropical migratory bird

species

• High quality wetland complexes that provide flood

mitigation and water quality benefits

• Minimally impaired stream reaches with riparian

vegetation, within minimally impacted watersheds

that support water quality and wildlife habitat

• Large blocks of native prairie that support

endangered area sensitive bird species

Identified Primary Landscape Types and Attributes

Landscape Type Landscape Attribute

• Forests

• Wetlands

• Freshwater aquatic

systems

• Prairies

• Landscapes are “a mosaic of ecosystems or land uses that possess common attributes

that are repeated across a large area.” (Richard Forman)

• Landscapes provide the rationale for deciding what resource attributes or features to

include and connect within your green infrastructure network.

• Landscapes can be categorized in a variety of ways depending upon your network

design goals

Collected and Assessed GIS Data for Network Design• Data quality

assessment– Find best available

data– Fitness for use– Spatial/Attribute

Consistency– Lineage– Currency– Completeness– Resolution

Data Quality Assessment Matrix

Core Areas: • Contain fully functional

natural ecosystems

• Provide high-quality habitat for native plants and animals

Hubs:• Slightly fragmented

aggregations of core areas, plus contiguous natural cover

Corridors:• Link core areas together

• Allow animal movement

and seed and pollen transfer between core areas

Design and Connect Network Features

What are the Results and Benefits of this Green Infrastructure Network?

•Need Much More Monitoring of Projects at all 4 Scales

•Organizations like USEPA, Center for Neighborhood Technology trying to gather

•Some Studies like one in Ohio . . .

Study used a reverse auction economic incentive to place rain gardens and rain barrels onto parcels in a 1.8-km2 watershed near Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hydrologic, water-quality, and ecological monitoring program documented environmental conditions before and after treatment. Results were installation of 83 rain gardens and 176 rain barrels onto more than 20% of the properties

Preliminary analyses indicate that the overall discharge regime was altered by the treatments.

Distributed storm-water installations contributed to ecosystem services such as flood protection, water supply, and water infiltration; provided benefits to the local residents; and reduced the need for larger, expensive, centralized retrofits (such as deep tunnel storage).

-Environmental Practice 14:57–67 (2012)

Gray Infrastructure

Water Quality and Quantity. . .

Questions