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90_HJ0012eng HJ0012 Engrossed LRB9004155KBkb 1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 12 2 WHEREAS, Legislation has been proposed in the United 3 States Congress to extend the boundaries of the Illinois and 4 Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor from Harlem Avenue 5 to Lake Michigan and create the Calumet Ecological Park; and 6 WHEREAS, The proposed legislation will not impose any new 7 regulations on the areas in question nor require additional 8 federal funding; and 9 WHEREAS, The proposed legislation will create eligibility 10 for businesses within the corridor to participate in the 11 revolving loan fund sponsored by the Illinois and Michigan 12 Canal Federal Commission; and 13 WHEREAS, The extension of the National Heritage 14 Corridor's boundaries into Chicago will result in an increase 15 of tourism in the Chicago area and will afford federal 16 protection to Illinois and Michigan Canal lands; and 17 WHEREAS, The extension of the corridor boundaries into 18 Chicago will ultimately create an economic and ecological 19 corridor of great significance; and 20 WHEREAS, In 1992 the Lake Calumet Study Committee offered 21 the concept of a Calumet Ecological Park, a series of 22 greenway corridors connecting the Indiana Dunes National 23 Lakeshore with the Illinois and Michigan Canal National 24 Heritage Corridor in Illinois; and in 1993 the Calumet 25 Ecological Park Association was created to involve citizens 26 and organizations in an effort to create such an entity; and 27 WHEREAS, On May 8, 1996 the Honorable Jerry Weller, 28 United States Representative from Illinois (11th District) 29 introduced the concept into the U.S. House of Representatives 30 requesting the Secretary of the Interior to study such a 31 possibility; and after a tortuous journey through committees HJ0012 Engrossed -2- LRB9004155KBkb 1 and subcommittees the final version was incorporated in a 2 much larger bill, which passed both houses of Congress and, 3 on November 12, 1996 President Bill Clinton signed the 4 Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 into 5 law (Public Law 104-333); and 6 WHEREAS, The Omnibus Parks law has two sections dealing 7 with Illinois riverways: the Calumet Ecological Park 8 (Section 816) and the Illinois and Michigan Canal National 9 Heritage Corridor (Section 902); and both request the 10 Secretary of the Interior to be the final authority; and 11 WHEREAS, The Secretary shall conduct a study of the 12 possibility of the creation of the Calumet Ecological Park, 13 and the law directs the Illinois and Michigan Canal National 14 Heritage Corridor Commission (appointed by the Illinois 15 Governor) to conduct a study of the possibility of expanding 16 the Corridor into Chicago and report to the Secretary; and 17 WHEREAS, Although the two sections of the law dealing 18 with Illinois are quite compatible, the success of one of 19 the provisions does not necessarily lead to the success of 20 the other; and even if the Illinois and Michigan Canal 21 Corridor expansion were to be implemented, there is no 22 guarantee that the Calumet Ecological Park would be created; 23 and 24 WHEREAS, As a result the efforts to create the Park must 25 be continued; at the present time staff of the National Park 26 Service will be conducting the study of the Calumet 27 Ecological Park to be submitted to the Secretary of the 28 Interior; therefore, be it 29 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 30 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE 31 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the passage of federal 32 legislation which extends the boundaries of the Illinois and HJ0012 Engrossed -3- LRB9004155KBkb 1 Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor from Harlem Avenue 2 to Lake Michigan; and be it further 3 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be 4 presented to the President pro tempore of the United States 5 Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of 6 Representatives, and to each member of the Illinois 7 Congressional Delegation.