Over One Mile of Undeveloped Lake Michigan Lakeshore
A 3/4 mile curvy path through deeply wooded Bartlett Ravine in Highwood and Highland Park, Illinois brings you to over a mile of undeveloped Lake Michigan lakeshore. This is pretty rare footage considering Illinois has only about 60 of these lakefront miles.
And few can boast the kind of vistas that Illinois tourism directors will be claiming is just one of those “million miles to Monday” they feature in their promotions.
But for now, Bartlett Ravine & the spectacular lakeshore is a little secret. Only recently acquired from the Navy by Openlands, a regional conservation organization, the area is technically closed although regularly frequented by runners, bikers, dog-walkers & bird watchers – an early indication of the demand and appreciation for this public access.
Currently, Openlands must remove weeds and invasive woody vegetation, and reseed some bluffs and ravines. After that comes the work of creating trails -- along the top of the bluffs and in Bartlett Ravine, for example -- and putting up signs.
As part of its effort to stimulate community involvement, Openlands and Audubon Chicago Region (ACR) have invited the participation of Lake Cook Audubon Society in the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve habitat restoration project at Fort Sheridan.
Lake Cook Audubon can help:
- Monitor birds
- Develop good plans for restoring bird habitat
- Help publicize the site
Potential roles could include any or all of the following, or others that are developed with Openlands including:
Lead birding tours for the local community and for the birding community.- Hold workdays at the site - anything from habitat restoration to clean-up.
- Participate in public events planned by Openlands such as leading bird tours
- Work with ACR to develop a bird monitoring plan, then monitor and compile data
- Provide information about how birds are using the habitat, and management suggestions, with help from ACR as needed
- Be available as subject matter experts for the media or other inquiry
