Chicago Parks Grows Sustainable Opportunities this Summer! Expanded Forestry, New Native Plantings and Eco-recreation Opportunities Make for an Even Greener Summer

Park District's new efforts to support greening and sustainability increase residents' opportunities to experience nature, build healthier lives and community

Summer's right around the corner! As Parks prepare for the busiest season of the year, the District announces various initiatives to expand its sustainability efforts and eco-recreation offerings. Over the coming weeks, the District will be busy planting and pruning trees, introducing native plantings in park gardens and the Museum Campus and increasing staffing to care for its expansive tree canopy. The Park District will also refresh walking trails and expand eco-recreation programs at various parks to encourage residents and families to get active and experience Chicago's great outdoors.

"We are excited to implement new greening and sustainability efforts in our operations and enhance opportunities that have a direct and positive impact on our parks and the environment but also the well-being of Chicagoans and visitors, said General Superintendent and CEO Rosa Escareño. "Each Summer, millions of residents and visitors use our parks as a resource for recreation, to build community and to achieve their health and wellness goals. We will continue to invest in Parks and make them accessible and inviting as nature provides essential physical and mental benefits people need."

This year, the District hired six, additional Junior Tree Surgeons to perform routine maintenance, like trimming and pruning, to preserve the urban forest within parks. The Park District is home to 250,000 trees that not only beautify parkland but also provide an array of health and environmental benefits including producing oxygen, reducing ozone emissions, fighting climate change and supporting wildlife. In addition, trees provide shade and a cooling effect of up to 10 degrees which help combat heat-related illnesses in extreme temperatures.

This Summer, the District launched a program to increase native plantings in park gardens and on the Museum Campus.

Park landscape crews will begin converting some of the underutilized spaces near the Adler, Shedd and The Field Museum into native plant gardens this Spring. The presence of native plantings reduce water runoff, flooding and air pollution in addition to serving as a vital food source for pollinators, birds and wildlife. In addition, native plantings require less watering and are rarely invasive which allows other plants to co-exist and flourish. They also promote and improve biodiversity by attracting butterflies, birds and other wildlife.

The District is also enhancing greening initiatives in its harbors. This season the District will introduce automated trash skimmers at seven harbor locations to remove debris. This technology will help further the District's efforts to keep the lakefront free of debris.

These and other efforts by the Park District create spaces where people and nature can thrive together. To this end, the Park District is also refreshing walking trails to make natural areas more accessible and encourage pedestrians and expanding eco-recreation programming and other wellness opportunities offered in parks. This Summer, the District will bring new and/or expanded day camps and other programs like a new Bike Camp Big Marsh Park, free Community Climb events the Steelworkers Park Climbing Wall in partnership with Chicago Adventure Therapy and guided paddling tours along offered at the River Lab at River Park to encourage residents to use the river as a source of recreation and enrichment and to highlight the District's work in restoring the riverfront into a healthy, diverse habitat. For more information on these opportunities, visit the Chicago Park District website.

As Chicagoans make plans to spend Summer in the parks, the District is also hard at work with routine prep to ensure that parks are beautiful, clean and ready to residents to enjoy. Crews have already begun opening comfort stations and activating drinking fountains, grooming and maintaining our athletic fields, prepping flowers beds, mowing and performing maintenance on our green spaces. As the City's leading environmental stewards, the Chicago Park District practices sustainable lawncare techniques including the minimal use of chemical herbicides. As a result of the District commitment to protecting our patrons, wildlife and natural environment, dandelions do grow in our parks.

Keeping parks clean and enjoyable is a collective effort. The District urges patrons to do their part and put their trash in the garbage and recycling cans.