Nearly five months after the Tribune’s eloquent Sept. 10 editorial in support of prairie preservation, and after receiving 123 letters or cards and 2,500 petition signatures in support of that cause, the Glenview Village Board voted to preserve 14 acres of rare tallgrass prairie at the former Naval Air Station.
Unfortunately, the trustees ignored expert testimony about the need for a large buffer zone to protect the plants and provide habitat for rare or endangered grassland birds: the upland sandpipers, short-eared owls, bobolinks, meadowlarks, sedge wrens, grasshopper sparrows and other birds that are dying out in Illinois for lack of habitat.
Dr. Paul Green of the American Birding Association wrote to the board pointing out that the nation’s 41 million bird watchers spent $23.2 billion in 1996–about $570 a person–on supplies and excursion-related expenses. He noted that birdwatching is the fastest-growing recreational activity in the U.S. and that a program of signs, walkways and blinds could bring in many tourists.
Instead, the trustees’ plan to build an industrial park–on the advice of their marketing consultant–will make more traditional use of open space. About 215 acres will be set aside for a private, tournament-quality golf course and a par 3 course. As with Glenview’s existing public course, this land will not support prairie birds and will require a lot of pesticides and herbicides.
Land sales to private developers will soon begin, but it’s not too late. We urge the Glenview Village Trustees to think globally and act locally by preserving more natural open space.
