Cook County's Forest Preserve Superintendent Shares Urban Wildlife Management Techniques with Beijing

Cook County Forest Preserve District Board Of Commissioners Meeting
February 19, 2019 

What did the Board decide?

• The Board welcomed the Boy Scouts of America back to the Forest Preserves after some years of being denied usage due to the exclusionary nature of their membership some years ago.  Commissioners Sims and Suffredin heartily commended them for becoming inclusive and welcoming.

What else did the Board discuss? 
Most of the meeting consisted of two presentations.  

• The first topic was the refurbishment and renovation of the Major Taylor trail, connecting the south suburbs to the city.  Major Taylor was the first African American cyclist to win the Cycling World championship in 1899.  He was active from 1895 to 1910 and spent most of his later years in Chicago.  The trail runs from Dan Ryan Woods to the Cal-Sag trail.  The surface has been refurbished and viaduct murals will be restored by the springtime.
• The second presentation was by Superintendent Randall about his trip to Beijing (the Chinese paid for the trip) where he talked about how to manage nature preserves in urban areas.  The Chinese invited Cook County to teach Beijing about how to encourage participation and education, and create healthy eco-systems.  Beijing is home to 30 million people and they have just one nature center and one campground.  The eco-system is not healthy.  Supt. Randall described seeing no wildlife except for one squirrel and a few birds.  The climate is much drier than Chicago’s and they were very concerned about using controlled burns to manage underbrush.

Other Items of Interest

• The FP signed an agreement with Bike and Roll to allow for bike rentals this year.
  
• The County is hoping the State will allocate funds for a capital budget for the Forest Preserve this year.

Observer - Amy Little                                                                    Meeting Length: 53 minutes