title
PROPOSED GRANT AWARD
Department: Department of Resource Management
Grantee: Forest Preserves of Cook County (the “Forest Preserves”)
Grantor: Forest Preserve Foundation
Request: Authorization to accept grant and to enter into agreement
Purpose: Resilient Communities Program for ecological restoration at Sweet Woods
Grant Amount: $252,500.00
Grant Period: Date of execution - 10/10/2022
Fiscal Impact: $325,000.00 match
Accounts: Professional Services 51058.520830, 51051.520830, 51028.520830 and all future Professional Services; Special or Co-op Programs 51058.521313, 51051.521313, 51028.521313 and all future Special or Co-op Programs; Grant and Mitigation 51010.521444
Concurrences:
The Chief Financial Officer has approved this item. Final agreement is subject to legal review and approval.
District(s): 6
Summary: The Forest Preserve Foundation has received a $325,000.00 Resilient Communities Program grant administered via a partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Wells Fargo. The Forest Preserves has been sub-awarded a portion of these funds to support 180 acres of ecological restoration at Sweet Woods preserve in the Village of Thornton in southeastern Cook County.
Sweet Woods is a rich woodland bisected by Thorn Creek. Restoration will include removal of invasive brush and herbaceous weeds from the dunes and floodplain of this preserve. This work builds on ongoing restoration work at the adjacent Wampum Lake and Thornton-Lansing Road preserves.
The Resilient Communities Program is designed to prepare for future environmental challenges by enhancing community capacity to plan and implement resiliency projects and improve the protections afforded by natural ecosystems by investing in green infrastructure and other measures.
The Forest Preserves will receive $252,500.00 in grant funds from the Forest Preserve Foundation, which plans to grant an additional $40,000.00 to Greencorps Chicago for supplemental work to be conducted on Forest Preserves property. Total project cost for work dedicated to Forest Preserves property is $617,500.00, of which the Forest Preserves proposes to contribute $325,000.00 or an approximately 53% cash match. The grant award will require the execution of a grant agreement, which will be subject to legal review and approval.
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