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Plan for Nature

The Village first adopted A Plan for Nature in Glenview in 2008, a two-volume report inventorying and detailing the ecological condition and potential of 99 open space areas of one acre or larger in the Village of Glenview.


The goal of Glenview’s Plan for Nature was straightforward: To enhance, improve and protect the natural areas and open spaces of Glenview, including prairie, wetlands, rivers and streams, shorelines and detention basins. These resources enrich our quality of life, and the Village, its residents and local businesses can all play a part in contributing to their preservation.


In 2022, the Village engaged with a consultant to update its Plan for Nature, including a re-evaluation of all the sites included in the original plan in addition to new sites throughout town. The updated Plan identified more than 20 additional sites with potential for improved habitat. The updated plan may be viewed below.


2023 Plan for Nature

The updated Plan for Nature was adopted by the Village Board on March 19, 2024. The plan began with a technical natural resources assessment, which identified 120 open spaces, both publicly and privately owned, for their potential to contribute and support natural habitat. 


The Plan provided recommendations to improve natural habitat within the Village regardless of ownership or current condition of the open space parcels. It also offered a system to prioritize projects according to feasibility and impact. The Village will utilize this updated plan in an effort to expand the list of accomplishments made since the 2008 Plan for Nature was implemented.


Numerous successful habitat and water quality improvement projects have resulted from the implementation of the recommendations included in the 2008 planning document. Examples include re-meandering and naturalizing the streambanks of West Fork Chicago River for 3,000 feet along the Techny Basin; retrofitting several Village-owned stormwater detention basins to support native vegetation rather than turf grass; installing rain gardens; and creating a downtown river walk with naturalized streambanks.


Other opportunities in the Plan became unavailable over time, and new opportunities have arisen, necessitating the latest update in 2023.


Of 120 natural areas and resources in Glenview, the value of 37 sites, totaling 2,226.53 acres, was set as high by the Environment and Natural Resources Commission. To read more, see the full Plan for Nature linked above.


Robyn Flakne, the Village's Natural Resources Manager, wrote about Glenview's Plan for Nature in this March 2012 article published in Environmental Practice:

West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River

The Village has done much to improve the water quality of this fork of the Chicago River that cuts through Glenview, as detailed in the following information sheets.


NATURALIZED STORMWATER DETENTION


PERMEABLE PAVEMENT AND GREEN ROOFS


REACH 1 RE-MEANDERING AND NATURALIZATION


STABILIZATION


Read the report:


West Fork Corridor Map

The West Fork Corridor is a large contiguous natural area surrounds the West Fork of the Chicago River's North Branch. Its most prominent feature is the Techny Basin, which stores storm water overflow from the river during heavy rain. Downstream along the West Fork, the Village has stabilized the stream bank and added native landscaping to create natural spaces at the Pine Street floodplain parcel, Downtown Glenview (north and south of Glenview Road at the river), and the Longvalley floodplain parcel. Together with parks and other open spaces adjacent to the river, these areas create a corridor of natural habitat. To see a map of Village-owned West Fork Corridor locations, visit the West For Corridor Map