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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to commend the partnership between the
4North Branch Restoration Project, the Centennial Volunteers
5Program, and the Friends of the Forest Preserves and their
6efforts to restore the forest preserves, as well as the Forest
7Preserves of Cook County's commitment to building and
8supporting volunteer restoration efforts; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The Chicago metropolitan area contains some of
10Illinois's largest and best remnants of its native ecosystems;
11these remaining natural lands are irreplaceable and need help
12to survive and prosper; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In 1977, a group of enthusiastic citizens
14volunteered to help rescue several small remnants of native
15prairie that still survived in the Forest Preserves of Cook
16County along the North Branch of the Chicago River; today, many
17groups in the Chicago area are involved in the restoration of
18native habitats; among these groups, the North Branch
19Restoration Project has been called a model for volunteer
20stewardship and ecological restoration; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Every weekend, volunteers gather at scheduled
22sites to work, restoring health to the preserves by cutting

 

 

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1brush, pulling weeds, and gathering and sowing seeds; citizen
2scientists collect important information about the plants and
3animals, monitor changes in sites as restoration proceeds, and
4add to the knowledge of local ecosystems; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The results have been remarkable; in prairies,
6plants such as cream false indigo, purple prairie clover,
7rattlesnake mater, and bottle gentian have reappeared and are
8thriving; many grassland animals, from the smooth green snake
9to the great spangled fritillary butterfly, survive because of
10these efforts; with the return of sunlight and fire in the
11woods, grasses, sedges, and wildflowers once again cover the
12forest floor; great crested flycatchers, American woodcocks,
13and eastern wood pewees raise their young in the woods; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Across the Forest Preserves of Cook County, more
15than 20 endangered or threatened plant species have increased
16in numbers; animals such as the Cooper's hawk and the Edward's
17hairstreak butterfly are back from the edge of local
18extinction, and the eastern bluebird has returned to nest in
19the North Branch savannas; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Forest Preserves of Cook County, with nearly
2170,000 acres, is the largest forest preserve district in the
22United States; within its boundaries are rare habitats that
23offer plant and animal diversity on par with the rainforests of

 

 

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1the world; more than 20 years ago, the District became the
2first agency in a major metropolitan area to monitor urban
3wildlife that carries West Nile, Lyme disease, rabies, and
4avian influenza; as a result, the District's Wildlife Research
5Center now has a world renowned data set utilized by the
6Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, and
7many universities; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The Centennial Volunteers were established in
92015 and are a part of a community of like-minded individuals
10who help restore the Chicago River system and make a tangible
11difference to the environment; volunteers are trained by
12experts in restoration and resource management and are involved
13in regular volunteer days on the weekends throughout the year;
14they lead activities for nine sites on volunteer days and
15during other special events; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The Friends of the Forest Preserves was founded in
171989, and its mission is to be "the voice of a diverse
18community inspiring and organizing people to protect, restore,
19and expand the forest preserves in Cook County"; the Friends of
20the Forest Preserves helped develop the Next Century
21Conservation Plan, an ambitious blueprint to make Cook County a
22national leader in urban conservation, and now plays a
23leadership role in the plan's implementation; the organization
24also played an instrumental role in developing the Conservation

 

 

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1Corps, a program that provides high school students and young
2adults with hands-on conservation projects to help restore
3land, including raising more than $5 million in support, which
4made it possible to engage more than 950 young people who have
5helped care for and improve over 1,000 acres of Forest
6Preserves' land; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The North Branch Restoration Project, the
8Centennial Volunteers, and the Friends of Forest Preserves are
9exemplary community partners with the Forest Preserves of Cook
10County and support and train a vast network of volunteers to
11help steward the woodlands, savannas, wetlands, and prairies
12across 70,000 acres of preserves; the value of the volunteers'
13efforts extends beyond the borders of the forest preserve
14property, as volunteers enjoy the physical and mental health
15benefits of spending time in nature among a supportive,
16friendly community of people, and the neighborhoods receive the
17environmental benefits of clean air, stormwater retention, and
18beautiful spaces to get outdoors to relax and play; therefore,
19be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
21HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
22we commend the North Branch Restoration Project, the Centennial
23Volunteers Program, and the Friends of the Forest Preserves and
24their efforts to restore the forest preserves, congratulate

 

 

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1them on their success, and applaud the Forest Preserves of Cook
2County's commitment to encouraging and supporting volunteer
3efforts; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
5presented to the North Branch Restoration Project, the
6Centennial Volunteers Program, the Friends of the Forest
7Preserves, and the Forest Preserves of Cook County as an
8expression of our esteem and respect.