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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
TO APPROVE AND ADOPT AN AMENDED TREE MITIGATION PLAN
WHEREAS, on March 21, 2007, the Board of Commissioners approved the Forest Preserves of Cook County (the "Forest Preserves") Tree Mitigation Plan; and
WHEREAS, on September 13, 2016, the Forest Preserves Board of Commissioners approved an amendment to the Tree Mitigation Plan per Board Items #16-0233 and #16-0308; and
WHEREAS, the Forest Preserves utilizes the Tree Mitigation Plan as a tool to determine the value of trees that are lost due to the issuance of licenses affecting Forest Preserves property; and
WHEREAS, proposed amendments to the Tree Mitigation Plan allow the Forest Preserves to more accurately ascertain impacts to Forest Preserves resources resulting from land use requests by external entities, compensate the Forest Preserves for those impacts more appropriately according to recognized industry standards, and clarify procedural steps required for application of the Tree Mitigation Plan; and
WHEREAS, proposed changes include: 1) the addition of mitigation requirements for dead trees and downed coarse woody debris within the construction zone, and 2) adjustments to the formulae used to affix values to live trees; and
WHEREAS, the current Tree Mitigation Plan requires license applicants only to mitigate removal of live trees and does not account for dead trees or coarse woody debris. Incorporating these elements into the Tree Mitigation Plan assigns a value to the ecosystem benefits provided by these resources - as habitat for flora and fauna as well as crucial components of soil regeneration and nutrient recycling - and allows the Forest Preserves to receive compensation for their loss; and
WHEREAS, the proposed revised plan increases the multiplier assigned to a tree's location rating in the valuation formula to distinguish between trees removed from a standard preserve and those from designated Illinois Nature Preserves or Land and Water Reserves, which represen...
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