Belmont Prairie Named
Historic Site of the Year
After
naming the Belmont Prairie our community's Historic
Site of the Year, the Downers
Grove Historical Society dedicated a
commemorative plaque in Gelwicks
Park on Saturday,
August 24,
which was the 44th anniversary of the
Belmont Prairie's recognition as the
75th Illinois State Nature Preserve. Naturalist Lance
Herning was on hand to
interpret
special features of this remnant
Illinois prairie.
For more information please click
here to visit DGHistory.org.
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Environmental
Sustainability Plan
Initial Conditions Report
* * * * *
Morton
Arboretum Updated Chicagoland
Tree Census
In 2020, The
Morton Arboretum partnered with
Davey Resource Group Inc. and the
Student Conservation Association to
conduct its second tree census,
remeasuring 1,576 plots in the city
of Chicago and the seven surrounding
counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane,
Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will to
gain a comparative snapshot of the
regional forest and the benefits it
provides.
The first
census was in 2010. For the whole
seven-county area, the number of
trees and shrubs increased from
157,142,000 in 2010 to 172,297,000
in 2020, representing more than 194
species. In 2020, the regional
forest tree and shrub canopy cover
was assessed to be 23%, an increase
from 21% in 2010. In DuPage County,
the canopy cover increased from 26%
in 2010 to 31% in 2020.
Although the
number of trees and shrubs and the
canopy coverage did increase, the
study notes that a large percentage
of the canopy is composed of species
considered invasive, such as
European buckthorn and tree of
heaven. Detailed discussion of the
tree census findings may be found
at: https://mortonarb.org/science/tree-census/
In addition,
based on earlier data, the Chicago
Region Trees Initiative (CRTI) has
developed community-specific tree
canopy summaries, including Downers
Grove and many other
Chicago area towns.
The above
images and corresponding ones for
other communities may be found at: http://chicagorti.org/CanopySummaries/
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Historic
Preservation Activities
The Village's
historic preservation program was
revised in 2015, contributing to an
increased interest in landmarking
homes and other structures. Since
then twenty-nine historic features
have been granted local landmark
status in Downers Grove –– nine
structures in 2016, another nine in
2017, four more in 2018, four
historic features in 2019 and one
each year in 2021, 2022, 2023 and
2024.
Landmark
status was
unanimously approved
on August 20, 2024 for
the Herbert E.
Ehninger House, 4812
Northcott Avenue, at
the request of Daniel
Apel
and Sharon Andersen. Please click here to learn
about this
English Country
Revival style home
constructed circa
1942.
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