Openlands is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

conservation organization and accredited

land trust Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which th ...

that works with groups and individuals in northeastern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, northwestern

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and southeastern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

to preserve open space, develop walking and biking trails, restore natural areas, and connect people to the outdoors. Openlands has protected and expanded public access to more than 55,000 acres of land for parks, forest preserves, land and water greenway corridors, and urban gardens across the Chicago metropolitan region. It is a member of

Chicago Wilderness Chicago Wilderness is a regional alliance of more than 250 different organizations that work together to improve the quality of life of the individuals and the many other species living in the Chicago (Illinois) area."Chicago Wilderness." Chicago ...

History

The organization was founded in 1963 as the Openlands Project, a project of the Welfare Council of Metropolitan

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. MacArthur Foundation has been a large supporter of Openlands. Between 1984 and 2018, MacArthur awarded $4,808,360 in grants to the organization.

Projects

In 1970, the Lake Michigan Federation, now the

Alliance for the Great Lakes The Alliance for the Great Lakes is the largest and oldest citizens' environmental organization dedicated to the protection of North America's Great Lakes. Its mission is to conserve and restore the world's largest freshwater resources using pol ...

, was founded as a project of Openlands before becoming an independent organization. In 1980, Friends of the Chicago River was established as a program of Openlands before becoming a separate non-profit organization. In 1982 the Canal Corridor Association was formed by Openlands to create the first

National Heritage Corridor In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some ...

along the old

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Por ...

. In 1991, Openlands launched TreeKeepers, a program that trains and certifies volunteers to care for trees on some public property in the Chicago region. Program trainers include tree experts, arborist, and Openlands staff. TreeKeepers is part of Openland's Urban Forestry Program which has received $1.5 million from MacArthur Foundation since 2013 to increase the Chicago region's tree canopy and expand community outreach and engagement. Since the program launched, the organization has trained more than 2,000 volunteers. More than 5,000 trees have been planted in Chicago by volunteers of the program since 2013. The Openlands Lakeshore Preserve in Fort Sheridan opened to the public in 2011. It encompasses 77 acres of ravines and bluffs along a mile of the shore of Lake Michigan. In 2012 Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge was established by the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

after seven years of advocacy by Openlands and partners. Hackmatack was the first national wildlife refuge in the Chicago region and will eventually consist of 11,200 acres of protected wildlife habitat. In 2018 Conserve Lake County (serving Lake County, IL) merged into Openlands.

References

{{reflist Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Ecological restoration