The Wilds of Chicago

Not all land trust work is in wild areas. Some trusts specialize in creating green spaces inside city limits. The Trust for Public Land is probably the most prominent trust that focuses on urban green areas. The Chicago Sun Times has an update on plans for Millenium Park in Chicago, with a nice sidebar on the work of TPL. An ironic aside is provided by The New (sub)Urbanism blog which reports that a bridge in the park designed by Frank Gehry had to be closed because of snow. What? Snow in Chicago? There's planning for you. Seems the bridge is made a Brazilian hardwood that would be damaged by salt. Guess it's too much trouble to shovel it off.
And in my home state of Oklahoma, the Edmond Land Conservancy is finding it hard to keep up with the growth in the booming bedroom community of Edmond, north of Oklahoma City. The Conservancy is trying to preserve trees (yes, Oklahoma has trees) and green areas around Edmond, but developers are gobbling up the area as home demand continues.