State Rep. Corinne Wood of Lake Forest, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, pedaled 3.5 miles on DuPage County trails Monday to provide an appropriate backdrop to tout environmental programs.
“We wanted to let people know we support continued funding for the trails,” said Wood, without breaking a sweat. She was accompanied by her two children, who started their trip in Wheaton and traveled the Illinois Prairie Path before stopping in Glen Ellyn.
Wood reiterated a proposal for a $160 million bond program that she said would allow the state to acquire open space, combat urban sprawl “or put those dollars in areas that are environmentally sensitive.”
She and gubernatorial running mate George Ryan, who is facing Democrat Glenn Poshard in the November election, are calling the bond program the Illinois Land Trust. They estimate the bonds would generate $40 million annually over the next four years for land purchases.
“Unfortunately, only about 5 percent of Illinois lands are held by the state publicly,” Wood said. “That puts us 48th in the nation. We could do better than that.”
Wood also said that she will push for new clean-air standards. Ryan favors re-authorizing the Clean Air Act in 1999, and he supports state efforts to meet a 38 percent reduction in ozone-producing emissions.
Wood and Ryan are advocating the revitalization of communities “rather than contributing to unplanned growth that consumes open space and strains the resources of our rural areas,” according to an environmental position statement.
They support cleaning up “brownfields,” or abandoned industrial sites that have been contaminated. Ryan also plans to fund the $460 million Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, a state-federal partnership that provides landowners with incentives to replace crops with trees or grass.
Wood cited several natural areas being conserved by the state, including Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie near Joliet and the Kankakee River Basin.
Wood planned to take the same message to Kane County later on Monday. She and her children packed their bikes in vans and headed to Geneva to try out another trail.
