About Us
The Illinois Forestry Development Council was created by the Illinois Forestry Development Act of 1983. The 23 members of the Council represent one of the following interests or groups: landowners, forest industry, urban, environmental concerns, state and federal agencies, the General Assembly, and the Governor. The Council's charge is to identify and evaluate the social, economic, scientific, and educational value of Illinois' forestlands and Illinois' forest products industries. In addition to the members of the Council, numerous Task Groups work on projects and issues related to education, forest landowners, forest resource analysis, legislation, long-range planning, marketing and promotion, and urban planning.
What We Do
The Council was instrumental in helping to develop Illinois' long-range forestry plan (see Publications). Both goal-driven and action-specific, this strategic plan of action was developed to do the following:
- Assess all forest-related resources in the state
- Identify policies that address specific short-term and long-term issues
- Determine whether these policies and programs are adequate and appropriate
- Project economic, environmental, and conservation benefits to the state that could be realized by developing our forest resources and the forest products industry
- Identify key concerns, needs, and opportunities and determine specific objectives to meet these goals
- Provide a general sense of long-term direction for forestry in Illinois
- Serve as a way of communicating this intended direction
- Encourage cooperation among the participants and thereby increase the likelihood of success
- Serve as a guide for monitoring the progress of implementation
This long-range plan is continually updated to address current issues, concerns and needs of forestry and forest resources in Illinois.
Last modified: Wednesday, January 10, 2007