Cook County's 2024 Climate Action Plan and the Chicago Region Trees Initiative target a 30 percent tree canopy across the county by 2050 to reduce urban heat-island impacts in suburban Cook neighborhoods that face the highest summer temperature differentials.
The Cook County Climate Action Plan identifies heat-island mitigation as a top adaptation priority, citing 5 to 10 degree temperature differentials between low-canopy and high-canopy suburbs. The plan partners with the Chicago Region Trees Initiative, Forest Preserves of Cook County, and Openlands to expand canopy from roughly 21 percent today toward 30 percent by 2050. Sustain Cook County grants fund municipal tree-planting, green-roof retrofits on county facilities, and shade structures in priority equity areas. The Department of Environment and Sustainability publishes the Cook County Tree Canopy Assessment.
The plan is non-regulatory, so no direct fines apply to homeowners. Removing parkway trees without municipal permission, however, can trigger village fines under local tree ordinances.
See how Evanston's heat island mitigation rules stack up against other locations.
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