News Updates

Economic development and open land preservation can live in harmony

It takes regional collaboration and an understanding that natural spaces are essential to a thriving future

One of northeastern Illinois’ most valuable assets is its open lands. They make the region an attractive place to live and work, drawing new residents and businesses.

Nearly 270,000 acres of natural spaces extend across the area’s seven counties. That’s about 10% of the entire region — almost two times the size of the city of Chicago. 

While the amount of open lands has increased over the last 20 years, the region is falling short of what is needed to meet the regional target of 400,000 conserved acres by 2050. 

“Our forests, our wetlands, our parks, and our farms are essential to northeastern Illinois,” Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) Executive Director Erin Aleman said at a September 22 Catalyst Series gathering focused on the region’s natural spaces. “They feed our communities. They contribute to our quality of life and our economy. They mitigate flooding and help protect us from extreme heat.”

But communities can face tension between preserving their open spaces and attracting and maintaining economic development such as housing and industry. A regional approach to land use — one that balances growth with open space preservation — is imperative if northeastern Illinois is to maintain its competitive edge nationally and globally while protecting the natural spaces that span jurisdictions.

The future of open space is one critical element of The Century Plan, a long-term vision for a better, stronger future for northeastern Illinois. On behalf of the region, CMAP is leading development of The Century Plan, which invites voices across government, civic spheres, business, philanthropy, and communities to prioritize what the region will need to thrive decades into the future.

Making progress

While tensions exist between decisions on open space and development, the encouraging news is that new approaches are taking shape that ease the tension.

For instance, governments, residents, and businesses increasingly recognize that open lands have economic value and are part of a healthy infrastructure system. 

Wetlands hold stormwater, forests moderate heat, prairies store carbon, and farms feed everyone. Pollinators sustain ecosystems that are fundamental to human health, and trails connect people and communities. 

“We tend to talk about growth and conservation as competing interests,” Openlands CEO and President Michael Davidson said at the September CMAP gathering in Spring Grove. “We need housing. We need jobs. We need investment. We need infrastructure. We need a strong tax base. And then there is conservation, as though conservation is something we figure out after we’ve decided where everything else is going to go. I don’t think that can be our model for the next century.”

Experts point out that open space delivers tangible economic benefits. Naturalized wetlands can save millions of dollars in land management costs — the Lake County Forest Preserve District estimates that its restored acreage provides about $190 million in economic benefits every year. McHenry County, whose tourism tagline is “Wonderful Places, Wide Open Spaces,” reports that visitors spent $370 million last year, creating 2,246 jobs, according to McHenry County Board Chairman Michael Buehler.

Underscoring those numbers are success stories emerging throughout northeastern Illinois:

• In recent years, residents in Cook and Lake Counties have passed ballot initiatives to fund the acquisition, protection, and restoration of open spaces. 
• In 2024, a partnership of Openlands, The Conservation Fund, and the Illinois Audubon Society acquired nearly 1,000 acres to add to the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, partially located in McHenry County. 
• Restoration, guided in part by CMAP, continues around Lake Calumet in southern Cook County.
• Communities are granting conservation easements, and trail systems are being expanded.

Sharing the journey

The key component in these win-win scenarios is regional collaboration. A single municipality or county cannot balance preservation and economic development alone — in part because nature doesn’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries. 

“These are challenges that cross borders. No single county, community, or organization can solve them alone,” said CMAP Board vice-chair Carolyn Schofield.

Stewarding and expanding the region’s network of woodlands, wetlands, and prairies requires coordination across communities, public agencies, foundations, and the private sector — to better connect landscapes and improve access for people. And preserving open lands must be a part of all discussions about economic development — not treated as an afterthought. 

Experts at the September event shared ways that communities have begun incentivizing developers to build open spaces in new housing developments.

Algonquin has applied a conservation design ordinance to all development for 20 years, Village of Algonquin President Debby Sosine said. Prioritizing the protection of natural resources is its guiding principle. One practice allows developers to build 10% more if they include all the conservation designs the village is seeking.

“If you develop ordinances and plans and rules for the development,” she added, “they have to follow them. We as a board have told them, ‘If you’re not going to follow our rules, that’s great. We can leave it grass for a while. That’s no big deal for us.’ So, we’ve been able to get what we want in development.”

Others stressed the importance of early and thorough communication with residents to assure buy-in when acquiring, preserving, or restoring open lands.

“We built a strong campaign with our partners, volunteers and staff to communicate to the public what we needed and why,” said Lake County Forest Preserves President Jessica Vealitzek. The teams circulated throughout the county to educate the public on challenges, goals, and what was needed to achieve them.

“And we invited [the public] to participate in the development of that referendum,” she said. “We had conversations with them. So, I think they were telling us that they understood and they believed in our mission and they supported it because they saw the value that it had on their own lives.”

Local and regional leaders also must establish clear, comprehensive plans and ordinances about open land requirements for development, adhere to them and make sure developers understand them. 

Finally, leaders must have a keen understanding of where development makes sense — often on land that already has been developed — and remain firm in protecting valuable open land. “When you lose open space, it’s really hard to get back,” said Arnold Randall, Executive Director of the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

Thinking regionally

“A municipality understandably thinks about its own jobs, its own tax base, its own housing needs. But water doesn’t care about municipal boundaries. Neither does flooding or wildlife. And neither do the cumulative effects of thousands of individual land use decisions made over decades across hundreds of municipalities,” said Davidson. That is why a regional vision is critical.

Thinking long-term at a regional scale also builds resilience in the face of uncertainty. “We have to prepare for what we want to have, regardless of what the next development pressures may be,” said Eli Lechter, Principal at LJC. 

Acquiring, restoring, and protecting northeastern Illinois’ extraordinary natural assets while maintaining economic vibrancy is a complex endeavor. But it’s becoming more widely recognized that achieving that balance doesn’t have to be a competition or a conflict.

Bike paths, nature trails, and greenways were once considered radical ideas — and now they’re considered essential. Today’s elected officials, planners, and visionaries have the same opportunity to work together and establish the big ideas that improve quality of life for generations. 

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Solving for tomorrow, today

The Century Plan is a shared, overarching vision for northeastern Illinois that will guide policies for transportation, open space, housing, energy, and water for decades into the future.

Throughout 2026 and 2027, CMAP is bringing together regional decision-makers and action-takers from government, civic, business, and community organizations to think big about the challenges and opportunities facing northeastern Illinois. Together, we’ll set a path for systems that support transportation, the economy, and the environment — with priorities defined by the region, for the region. We invite you to join the conversation!