Illinois Green Communities Program: Planning for Our Environmental Future

Fulton County

Hancock County

Henderson County

Knox County

McDonough County

Warren County

June, 2004 Western Illinois Regional Council Table of Contents

Communities Planning Their Environmental Futures 1 Fulton County Vision Statement 3 Fulton County Goals 4 Hancock County Vision Statement 12 Hancock County Goals 13 Henderson County Vision Statement 21 Henderson County Goals 22 Knox County Vision Statement 30 Knox County Goals 31 McDonough County Vision Statement 38 McDonough County Goals 39 Warren County Vision Statement 46 Warren County Goals 47 Regional Review 54 Summaries of Planning Efforts 57 Funding Opportunities 72 1

Communities Planning Their Environmental Futures

The Green Illinois initiative was established in 2000 in an attempt to jumpstart environmental planning efforts throughout the state. The intent was to model state government stewardship efforts. Overall, Green Illinois serves to increase environmental awareness, promote waste reduction, the usage of alternative fuels, energy efficiency and the use of products that are environmentally sustainable and efficient.

Several components make up the Green Illinois program. First there is the Green Government Program. This initiative calls for the state to serve as a role model for environmental leadership and protection. Specifically, state agencies are expected to find ways to incorporate sustainable practices into their standard operations.

Another component of Green Illinois is the Green School program. This initiative provides for several different activities geared towards making the school environment healthier for students and also for expanding environmental education in the classrooms.

The final component of Green Illinois is the Green Communities Demonstration Grant Program. This program was established to create an opportunity for communities to self evaluate and plan the future of their environment. The end result of this process is a vision statement for each participating community with long-term goals and action plans for achieving said goals.

Communities that have received Green Communities Demonstration Grant funding are eligible for technical assistance and priority consideration when competing for state funds. Sixteen Illinois communities ultimately received funding under the demonstration program.

In May of 2002, Western Illinois Regional Council received funding to develop an environmental vision for Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Knox, and McDonough counties. In addition, the Western Illinois Economic Development Partnership received funds to develop an environmental vision for Warren County. This document contains the vision for all previously mentioned counties due to the management of the Warren County project by the Western Illinois Regional Council.

A series of community work sessions were held in each county in order to derive the information necessary for a final environmental vision specifically geared to each of the counties in the project area. Specifically, three meetings were held in each county. The first meeting introduced the Green Communities Demonstration Grant Program to the stakeholders, detailed missing individuals whose participation should be sought, and finally, initiated the discussion on the strengths and threats of the local environment. Within this session, other local natural resources or otherwise environmental planning efforts were discussed and inventoried.

The second Green Communities work session focused on stakeholder discussion of environmental strengths and threats. After lengthy dialogue, participants were asked to rank the issues by actually giving them a point value. This process ultimately determined from which issues long term goals would be derived.

The final Green Communities work session focused on the development of the goals and action steps for the issues already prioritized in each county. Worksheets were