Fund the Forest Preserves
LWV Chicago was a proud supporter of the 2022 referendum to VOTE YES for funding the Cook County Forest Preserves. Thanks to Cook County voters, this referendum was approved in the November 2022 General Election!
Cook County’s Forest Preserves were created in 1914. The last time there was a request for a minimal property tax increase to support them was in the 1930s. The 2022 referendum requested a property tax increase of 0.025%, which amounts to less than $1.66/month or for the average Cook County homeowner—approximately $20 for the year.
The Forest Preserves give us all an opportunity to explore nature as well as to protect clean water sources, air quality, and wildlife habitats. There are more than 62 million visits to the Forest Preserves each year for walking, jogging, or biking the more than 350 miles of paved and unpaved trails. Additionally, the Forest Preserves include nature centers, campgrounds, aquatic and boating centers, fishing lakes and even a Zipline course.
With tens of millions of trees, the Forest Preserves clean and cool the air we breathe. These lands absorb as much greenhouse gas annually as is produced by more than 330,000 cars. They filter stormwater to keep pollution from entering our waterways and help protect against flooding by absorbing hundreds of millions of gallons of rainwater each year.
Now that the referendum has been approved, the Forest Preserves will be able to purchase and protect an estimated 2,700 additional acres of open land for future generations, before it disappears. More than half will be in Southeast Cook County, where less natural land has been protected than elsewhere in the county. Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago Botanic Garden are on Forest Preserves land. Now these local treasures will be able to complete urgent repairs to buildings, repair storm water and irrigation systems, install new paths, and more.
LWV Chicago’s Environmental Action Committee (EAC) spearheaded our efforts to fund the Forest Preserves. Learn more about the EAC’s work.
LWV Chicago is a proud supporter of the upcoming referendum found at the bottom of our November ballots to VOTE YES for funding the Cook County Forest Preserves. Here’s why.