SR0957 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0957 LRB103 40455 MST 72814 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Parks and recreation programs are an integral part of communities throughout this country, including the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Parks and recreation are vitally important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life in communities, ensuring the health of all citizens, and contributing to the economic and environmental well-being of a community and region; and

WHEREAS, Parks and recreation programs build healthy, active communities that aid in the prevention of chronic disease, provide therapeutic recreation services for those who are mentally or physically disabled, and also improve the mental and emotional health of all citizens; and

WHEREAS, Parks and recreation programs increase a community's economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of the local tax base, increased tourism, the attraction and retention of businesses, and crime reduction; and

WHEREAS, Park districts, forest preserves, and conservation, recreation, and special recreation agencies are significant statewide employers of youth, with more than half of their nearly 57,000 employees being under the age of 25; and

WHEREAS, Parks and recreation areas are fundamental to the environmental well-being of our communities; and

WHEREAS, Parks and natural recreation areas improve water quality, protect groundwater, prevent flooding, improve the quality of the air we breathe, provide vegetative buffers to development, and produce habitat for wildlife; and

WHEREAS, Our parks and natural recreation areas ensure the ecological beauty of our communities and provide a place for children and adults to connect with nature and recreate outdoors; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare July 2024 as Parks and Recreation Month; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Illinois Association of Park Districts, the Illinois Park and Recreation Association, the National Recreation and Park Association, and the Illinois Department of National Resources.