McHenry County Green Infrastructure Plan

About the Program

Category: Planning (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

In July of 2012, the McHenry County Green Infrastructure Plan was adopted following an 18-month planning and development process. This plan embraces a collection of ideas and practices known as ‘green infrastructure’ and, through maps and policy recommendations, presents a vision for countywide implementation . The plan seeks to encourage green infrastructure concepts in land use decisions and new development, and to establish a network of green infrastructure that runs through every jurisdiction in the county. As such, its success is ultimately dependent upon cooperation and collaboration between the county, municipalities, park districts, land conservation agencies, and residents. To this end, the county has worked with the City of Woodstock and the Village of Lakewood on the development of their own green infrastructure plans. These efforts have relied heavily on the planning process first undertaken by the county and its extensive environmental resource mapping capabilities. Additionally, as a direct result of the implementation recommendations in the plan, the county has taken a leadership role in a grant application for the restoration of a degraded wetland fen by coordinating with local governments, park districts, institutions, and conservation agencies. The plan has thus already met its most important objective: to serve as a unifying element within the county for preservation and enhancement of the our most significant environmental resources.