Budget cuts of up to 65 percent may be on the way for the DuPage County Forest Preserve’s controversial Natural Areas Management Program of tree cutting and brush clearing designed to restore parcels to pre-settlement conditions.
During an emotionally charged meeting last week a subcommittee recommended budget cuts and also proposed that any cutting of native and non-native trees more than 4 inches in diameter must be approved by a committee.
Commissioner Michael Formento, chairman of the panel reviewing the program, which costs about $1 million a year, said the panel studied maintenance and management costs.
Proponents of the Natural Areas Management Program have argued that ecological intervention is imperative to renew aging oak and hickory forests. They said chopping down less-desirable trees and destroying non-native brush is necessary.
Commissioner Wallace Brown said he wants to have only the natural resources management program in place. That program collects data and monitors wildlife activity on the district’s 23,000 acres. He said NAMP components such as burns and clear-cutting of trees, have not been well-considered.
