Skokie River Woods Wetland Restoration Award

Release Date: Feb. 24, 2009

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill., February 24, 2009— The Park District of Highland Park was awarded $380,000 on January 5 by the Lake Country Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) to fund the Skokie River Woods Wetland Restoration Project under the Wetland Restoration Fund (WRF) North Branch of the Chicago River Account.

The Park District’s proposal was one of three considered by the SMC committee whose goal was to award the project that would best improve degraded conditions in the watershed by combining water quality improvement,  flood damage reduction and natural resource protection and enhancement objectives in best management practice projects and programs (Ref. North Branch Chicago River Watershed-Based Plan, 2008). 

Skokie River Woods, located adjacent to the Highland Park Country Club, is a  26 acre site owned by the City of Highland Park. This site is in the historic floodplain of the Skokie River. Recreational opportunities and public access will be greatly enhanced by improving the landscape and by the future provision of a recreational trail in Skokie River Woods.

The Park District of Highland Park would like to thank County Board District 31 representative Anne Flanigan Bassi for her support. For more information, please contact Joseph Hmieleski, P.W.S., CFM, Principal Wetland Specialist of the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission at 847.918.5260 or Rick Stumpf, Director of Parks and Planning for the Park District of Highland Park at 847.579.3109.

About the Park District of Highland Park
The Park District of Highland Park, founded in 1909, operates and manages over 600 acres of land in 44 park areas, and offers approximately 2,800 recreational and seasonal programs. Facilities include an indoor ice arena, indoor tennis and racquetball complex, two recreation centers, a nature center, an 18-hole golf course, driving range, adventure golf, aquapark, beaches, boat launch ramp and yacht club on Lake Michigan.

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