America's Great Outdoors highlights critical regional conservation and recreation projects

On October 31, the Department of the Interior highlighted important and innovative projects in Illinois and Indiana that are chosen for President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative. Openlands is pleased that the proposed Calumet Open Space Reserve, the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge and the Lake Michigan Water Trail are recognized as some of the country's most promising ways to reconnect Americans to the natural world. Openlands' important work on these projects embodies the same goals to conserve important lands and build recreation opportunities and economic growth for the surrounding communities.

"We are happy to see the America's Great Outdoors initiative recognize and elevate these important projects to the national stage," said Openlands President and CEO Jerry Adelmann. "Openlands looks forward to continuing to work with the federal agencies and local partners to make these projects a reality and to provide opportunities for people in our metropolitan region to connect to nature."

Calumet Open Space Reserve
For many years, Openlands has worked with the local advocates, the City of Chicago and other suburban communities in the Calumet region to create a plan for land protection, recreational trail systems and economic redevelopment. Plans for reuse of former industrial sites, transfer of land to open space agencies for protection and remediation and interconnections between these areas are all part of the Openlands vision for the area. The support of the Governor of Illinois, the Department of the Interior and local stakeholders will bring needed momentum toward the implementation of that vision.

Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
With its partners Friends of Hackmatack and The Trust for Public Land, Openlands has been a catalyst for creation of a new "urban" national wildlife refuge on the border of Illinois and Wisconsin to protect important glacial landscapes, migratory and grassland bird species while providing expanded recreation opportunities and local economic growth. Openlands has worked closely with the grassroots advocates to move this idea from vision to reality providing leadership in outreach efforts, connections to important constituencies, and advocacy with political, agency and organizational leaders. This urban refuge will create a new model for refuges near major metropolitan populations that provide opportunities for people to engage and value the natural world.

Lake Michigan Water Trail access at Indiana Dunes
The creation and access to a Lake Michigan Water Trail will increase public access to Lake Michigan Shoreline and offer water based recreation to more than 9 million people. Due to Openlands expertise in water trail development in northeastern Illinois and our planning activities in northern Indiana, our work on establishing access points for canoes and kayaks along the shoreline has been critical to the trail's establishment in the region and its ultimate success.