Cutting Out Hard Maple, Willow Springs, circa 1904
12021-03-02T09:46:21-06:00Kate Flynn89ab0aeaf9441ebcfe2d9d020d3b00b0ffd82873136Perkins used this photo in his 1905 Report of the Special Park Commission as a warning of what could happen if nothing were done. "The work of the ax is evident," his caption to the photo said. Forest Preserve District of Cook County records (MSFPDC09), FPDCC_00_01_0001_020, box 0-1-1, item 20, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Illinois Chicago Library.plain2023-09-15T15:19:47-05:00Dan Harpereff3db32ed95b3efe91d381826e2c10c145cd452
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12021-01-25T12:04:35-06:00The 1905 Referendum12plain2023-10-06T13:41:07-05:00The first referendum to be voted on came in 1905. It asked Cook County voters to approve the creation of a new forest preserve district.
Supporters of the referendum campaigned on the need to maintain natural forests in the face of suburban expansion, securing the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers. They struck an urgent tone. E. A. Cummings, for example, argued that the “movement to preserve the fast disappearing beauty spots near Chicago should commend itself to all who have pride in Chicago’s present and hope for its future.” He warned against the encroachment on natural land: “It takes a hundred years to grow some of the forest monarchs [trees] that line the parts of the Des Plaines valley, so when once gone, they are gone forever.” Cook County voters, apparently convinced by these and other arguments, approved the referendum on November 7, 1905. But the victory did not last. While a majority of citizens who voted on the referendum voted yes, thousands chose not to cast a vote one way or the other. And according to the Chicago Tribune, the legislation that created the referendum was clumsily written, seeming to require that a majority of all votes cast in that election was necessary for it to become law. Given this legal ambiguity, Illinois Governor, Charles Deneen, refused to name commissioners to create the preserves, effectively killing the measure.