34 Illinois Parks and Recreation

It has been 33 years since the first Earth Day launched us into official environmental awareness. Earth Day has helped us identify and remedy a number of environmental problems. After all, we started recycling programs, removed the asbestos and underground storage tanks, reviewed our pesticides use and storage issues, and got our wetland permits. We even made annual Earth Day events almost as popular as the other "green holiday" - St. Patrick's Day. But now, there are new challenges on the horizon.

While we were busy fixing the known problems, like asbestos and underground storage tanks, researchers followed to measure our success. The results are not what everyone expected. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that as much as 39 percent of assessed river and stream miles, 45 percent of assessed lake acres, and 51 percent of assessed estuary square miles in the nation were found to be impaired for one or more uses. These are much higher numbers than you might expect, given the height of awareness about cleaning the environment brought about by Earth Day. E-coli contamination is on the rise so that beach advisories are necessary to warn residents if swimming conditions are safe. The air we breathe is still carrying pollution from near and far, with the pollution often deposited in lakes that can still look pristine. The results are that all but a few states have fish advisories for mercury.

Ground water tables are falling and concerns about water quantity as well as quality are again on the agenda. The change in climate of the Great Lakes area has produced smaller amounts of winter ice allowing for evaporation and lower lake and ground water levels. The Great Lakes, representing 20 percent of the world's fresh water, is a critical security issue for the US.

Invasive species, both flora and fauna, are on the rise. There are even invasives at the virus level, like the infamous West Nile virus. More than 160 species have established themselves in the Great Lakes basin, including non-native fish that are out competing many native species for food and habitat. The current poster child for this issue is the effort underway on the Illinois River, where a half million-dollar fish barrier and back up is being put into place. The barrier is to prevent the giant Asian Carp from reaching Lake Michigan, and also to block other Great Lakes invasives from reaching the Mississippi river system. Federal and IDNR funding advanced this effort.

No one in Illinois needs to look far to know that land consumption is out of control. From 1982 to 1996, population growth in the Chicago-Northwest Indiana area grew 10.9 percent. At the same time, we consumed 44.2 percent of the land, far outpacing the population growth. Sadly, most of the consumed land included valuable wetlands and natural areas.

Researchers are monitoring and developing indicators in the attempt to measure where we are in our protection efforts. Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson said, "We've never really had anything like this before—a measure we can intuitively understand that's based on solid data." His study attempts to use the standard tools of economics, transforming fisheries, forests and other key elements of the biosphere into "natural capital."

Carl T. Hall, writing about the study for the San Francisco Chronicle says, "Adding up all the farming, fishing, mining, building and fuel consumption, researchers calculate our global ecological demand to be the equivalent of 120 percent of the Earth's capacity to sustain these activities. Current consumption patterns cannot be sustained." Just like any budget that is overspent, reductions are needed. So what can we do now?

Park districts need to take a look at

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their regional surroundings. The watershed, for example, is a framing tool that regulators and environmentalists alike are following. Working in the watershed framework requires cooperation among all units of government. It also presents opportunities, such as looking at redeveloping brown fields, developing trails and buffer strips along streams, working to naturalize the landscape with drought hardy native plants and using that extra sunshine to fuel solar projects. If done in the context of a watershed plan, funding can also be a shared endeavor.

Last December, G. Tracy Mehan, III, US EPA's Assistant Administrator for Water, called for a renewed commitment to the watershed approach saying, "Although a decade of effort has resulted in general awareness of the watershed approach, recent evaluations show substantial gaps in actual implementation... It should be the fulcrum of our restoration and protection efforts, and those of our many stakeholders, private and public."

Here is the perfect opportunity for park districts to take the lead. The work must be done by general purpose and special governmental units alike- each using their specific tools and combined with stakeholder groups as well. Many watershed groups are being formed and "river keepers," or lake stewards, are being trained. Some are volunteers and others are paid positions. Many participants use these stewardship activities as recreation and involve the whole family. There are many models to benchmark against like the Salt Creek Plan led by the DuPage County Forest Preserve District.

Is anyone interested in this challenge?

To learn more go to: www.epa.gov/surf2/locate www.chiwild.org

Judy Beck, President of the Glenview Park District, represents IAPD on the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission and is the US EPA's Lake Michigan Manager in their Chicago Great Lakes National Program Office.

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