Chicago Wilderness Green Infrastructure Vision

Through our work as a founding member of Chicago Wilderness, The Field Museum is committed to CW’s four core initiatives which include implementing Green Infrastructure throughout the region. In 2004 Chicago Wilderness developed a Green Infrastructure Vision which encompasses 1.8 million acres of the six million acre region. In this vision, natural areas and their surrounding landscapes will be developed and managed with mutual benefits in mind as our region grows Millions of people depend on the services provided by nature such as drinking water, clean air, floodwater storage, and places to play. The Green Infrastructure Vision will ensure that these benefits continue to flow to the people of the Chicago region.

Since 2004 ECCo has worked to refine and implement this vision. Currently we are working in partnership with other members of the Calumet Stewardship Initiative and Chicago Wilderness to implement the vision across Calumet. To learn how Field Museum works on Green Infrastructure Implementation click here. Download the full Chicago Wilderness Green Infrastructure Vision here.

1 of 1

Previous Pause Next

The Chicago Wilderness Green Infrastructure Vision is a bold initiative that endeavors to defend and better connect the already protected natural areas from southwestern Michigan through Indiana and Illinois, to southeastern Wisconsin. Currently covering almost 370,000 acres of lands these protected areas focus on preserving biodiversity. Ignoring political boundaries, the Chicago Wilderness Green Infrastructure Vision strives to increase the area that contributes to the preservation of biodiversity nearly six-fold by creating connections between the isolated protected area and changing the way we develop the land within the surrounding landscapes. View enlarged map here.

Native landscaping

Green roofs

Illinois Map

Home to Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, Illinois also harbors some of the most diverse [dfs1] natural areas, and so must strike a balance between urban development and natural resources. Integral to this vision is working with people to promote a new way of thinking about the natural environment and to create new approaches to moving forward in a sustainable way.

Site design

Permeable pavement

Indiana Map

The prairies and woodlands of Indiana tell the story of the Midwest, changing over the last century and a half from rich wild nature to productive agricultural and urbanized lands. In order to preserve what remains of the precious natural remnants our future must involve sustainable land use practices and a better understanding of our environment.

Rain garden

Site design

Wisconsin Map

The northernmost region of the Chicago Wilderness holds significant national treasures. The wetlands and woodlands found here are critical to the survival of many threatened and endangered species. The Chicago Wilderness Green Infrastructure Vision promotes working with local communities in Wisconsin to illustrate the importance of connected protected areas.

Site design

Contingency Fund. The fixed basic block grant under TANF led to concerns
during the 1996 welfare reform law that funding would be inadequate during recessions.
TANF includes a $2 billion contingency fund, to provide additional matching grants to
states during recessionary periods if certain conditions are met. One of those conditions
is that each state spending from its own funds within the TANF program exceeds the
amount spent in predecessor programs in FY1994. During the economic downturn
associated with the 2001 recession, no state drew contingency funds. Even those that met
criteria of economic need (high and increasing unemployment rates or increased food
stamp caseloads) failed to spend from their own funds enough to qualify for contingency
funds. In recent years, Tennessee and South Carolina have drawn contingency funds.
Additionally, the TANF Hurricane Katrina relief measure (P.L. 109-68) provided 100%
federal funding from the contingency fund to aid those who had to evacuate to another
state because of the hurricane during the period September 2005 through August 2006.
2
The President’s FY2007 budget proposes to replenish the contingency fund, so that
its total at the beginning of FY2007 would be at its full $2 billion. It also revives a
proposal in the Administration’s welfare reauthorization proposals to count child care
spending (currently excluded) and spending in separate state programs toward meeting
the FY1994 threshold to qualify for contingency funds. The proposal also eliminates the
proration of contingency fund amounts for states that qualify for funds for less than the
full fiscal year. Additionally, the President’s budget proposes to allow access to the
TANF contingency fund for states that take a proposed option to take a fixed grant (rather
than unlimited matching funds) for their foster care program.
3
States would be allowed
access to the TANF contingency fund for their extra foster care costs under certain
circumstances.
The DRA simply extended the contingency fund through FY2010. H.R. 2