A new report ranks Illinois in the bottom third of states on spending for open space. According to the Illinois State Land Conservation Funding report released in March, Illinois has gone from spending an average of 50 million a year in land acquisition to less than 10 million annually over the last few years.
Illinois ranks last by a large margin among Midwestern states in acres protected per capita, with only 1 percent of its land owned by the state. Illinois spent $2.67 per resident on open space annually during its peak years of investment, while Minnesota spent $5.76 and Wisconsin spent $9.80. Funding in Illinois has dropped by 80% since the early 2000s. Illinois’ drop in funding is the result of the end of a four-year program to protect open space and diversions from funds from two long-term programs, the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) and the Natural Areas Acquisition Fund (NAAF). Both OSLAD and NAFF are supported by real estate transfer taxes. While that revenue increased with the real estate boom earlier this decade the state has taken away millions of dollars slated for natural areas for budgetary reasons. In fiscal year 2006, more than $35 million was diverted.
Illinios is considered to be one of the most ecologically diverse states in the country, containing hundreds of different ecosystems. The state has already lost mroe than 99.9% of its original prairies and 90% of its original wetlands. A coalition has been formed to fight this financial deficit. Visit it here: http://www.partnersforparksandwildlife.org/
