Daily Herald opinion: Preserving the shoreline: Suburban restoration project aims to protect Lake Michigan water and habitats

You gaze out at Lake Michigan on a blustery winter day, and a number of descriptive words might come to mind.

“Fragile” is not likely one of them.

But that’s how Ryan London, president and CEO of the Lake Forest Open Lands Association, describes the lake that supplies water to the region, lures boating and fishing enthusiasts, draws families for beach days and gives Chicago its celebrated views.

For all those reasons and more, protecting Lake Michigan’s water and its magnificent shoreline is a responsibility we all share.

In a story earlier this week, reporter Mick Zawislak spotlighted a major project by the Lake Forest Open Lands Association to restore and stabilize 61 acres of rare and, yes, fragile, ravine and shoreline habitats at the Jean and John Greene Nature Preserve along Lake Michigan.

The conservation organization manages the preserve, where nearby development and shoreline modifications have hastened erosion, impacted fish and led to widespread vegetation loss.

The project, the result of a $5.75 million federal grant, will begin in March and take two and a half years to complete. The goal is to improve the habitats for more than 100 bird species, 48 rare plant species and three threatened fish species unique to the Great Lakes.

There’s also a practical, human element to the project, as it will improve the capacity to filter stormwater, safeguarding water quality for 20 municipalities, according to the LFOLA.

It’s important work on a vital local resource — and not just because we rely so deeply on Lake Michigan water.

The project focuses on a stretch of the protected ravine-bluff system, home to plants so rare that you cannot buy more to replace them. To preserve them during the work, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plants of Concern program will collect and care for seeds of those plants, allowing them to be replanted as the work moves forward.

While saving rare plants may not command the attention of protecting beloved endangered animal species, our natural world is one of interconnection. And plants play a crucial role, providing food, shelter and important shoreline protections. Thus, the loss of a single species can impact so many others.

What sets these plants apart is their “ecological rarity,” London explains. Conditions in the preserve have allowed these unique plants to remain as they have been for thousands of years, offering a “window into the past.”

The details of the new project are impressive, from improving public access to creating offshore reefs and habitats in the lake itself to encourage fish populations to forage for food and reproduce. Steps taken now are key to preserving precious natural resources for years to come.

“We’re hoping this can demonstrate how you can work with nature,” London told Zawislak. “This is a long-term investment with long-term returns.”

We owe it our children and future generations to make those investments now.