In Naperville there has been recent discussion about whether it is wise to plug up School District 203’s current budget problems by selling eleven acres of wooded land it owns. A lot of people recognize the relatively rapid development of Naperville has meant a loss of open space (not to mention the attending traffic congestion). At a time of very real budget constraints, at the local and state levels, Illinois residents are facing financial issues that are hitting states and localities everywhere.
At the state level, groups are now lobbying legislators in Springfield to preserve funding for important land acquisition. Governor Blagojevich has proposed putting the money that is legally required to go to the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) and the Natural Areas Acquisition Fund (NAAF) programs into the State’s general revenue fund for this year to offset the deficit. As bad as this is on its face, there may be long-term implications in experienced scientific staff that are let go, the precedent that is set, which will make it easier to cut the funding in the future, and the greater potential for completely eliminating both programs in the future. For cutting a very small part of a large budget deficit, the cuts represent less than two percent of the $1.7 - 3.8 billion Illinois deficit, the state will stop acquiring public lands to preserve for our future.
It may be hard for some to imagine a Chicago Wilderness, but therein is the problem. There are natural lands in need of protection, and open spaces that are central to our environment and quality of life. We need more, not less of them. Even the small acreage in Naperville District 203 contributes in its own way by absorbing water runoff that might otherwise cause problems if it were paved over, absorbing carbon dioxide through trees to moderate temperatures, and providing numerous other environmental benefits. Finally, it contributes to citizens having something to see and experience beyond another housing complex. As pressing as our financial needs are now, and they are pressing, it will be much more expensive, and much less likely that we will ever recover the open lands that we develop today. Illinois is ranked 47th among the 50 states in the amount of state and federally protected land it holds. While Naperville is known for its parks and forest preserve land, its citizens recognize that there is fast coming a time when we will not be able to acquire any new land and expand what is, historically, very little open space. As Aurora, Lisle, Naperville, Warrenville, Woodridge and the rest of DuPage County expands in population and develops its last private tracks of land, this is an area where our future needs must weigh more heavily than the present.
[5/28/04 Editor Note, two Naperville Sun article links were eliminated from the first paragraph because they are no longer available online.]
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