Chicago Ecological Services Office staff attended a visioning event sponsored by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP).  The purpose of the event was to help CMAP develop themes that would be used to develop a plan for the Chicago Metropolitan area in the year 2040, including goals for the state of the regional environment, and what citizens would experience in their day to day lives. 

The visioning event is part of a larger effort by CMAP to update the greater Chicago Metropolitan area land use and transportation plan.  The Service is encouraging CMAP to more seriously consider ecosystem health in the planning process that has been done in most planning efforts perhaps by using watershed boundaries and emphasizing green infrastructure. 

CMAP is updating its transportation plan as part of this effort, as well. CIFO staff sit on CMAP’s Environment and Natural Resources committee.  This effort is expected to take a few years to complete, and it represents an opportunity to create a visionary plan that provides for the needs of fish and wildlife as an essential component of human health and prosperity. 

In 2009, the Chicago will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of a visionary planning document developed by Daniel Burnham.  The Burnham plan called for the City of Chicago Lake front to be public, composed of parks, marinas and nature preserves, and may be responsible for the current quality of the lake front.  The planning effort currently underway by the City of Chicago is hoped to set the stage for the City’s next century.