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REPORT
Department: Resource Management
Request: Receive and File
Report Title: Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan 2018 Summary Report
Report Period: 10/2013 - 9/2018
Summary: In October of 2013 the Forest Preserves of Cook County (the "Forest Preserves") partnered with the University of Illinois's Prairie Research Institute ("PRI"), one of the state’s premier science consortiums, for the purpose of developing a Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan and providing tools for its successful implementation. This document is a summary of the accomplishments of the Forest Preserves’ five (5) year partnership with PRI.
Some of these accomplishments include, but are not limited to, the completion of the Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan in 2015, which described the historic and current status of both natural and cultural resources in the Forest Preserves, identified threats to its resources, and provided options for reducing the effects of those threats.
PRI also provided a broad set of tools for successful execution of the plan and effective resource conservation into the future. Their science team assembled a detailed priority schematic for restoration, authored the Forest Preserves’ first seed policy, and created a robust system for measuring success toward conservation goals. PRI also devised a system for cataloging and prioritizing protection of our cultural resources. While more work remains to be done, these efforts have positioned the Forest Preserves to pursue and meet the ambitious goals set forth in the Next Century Conservation Plan.
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