30 THE wAvULD) UB: OsN = Be Tee 
Invitation For a Weekend: 
"Operation Greenstrip'' To Focus On 
Recreation Potential of Historic | & M Canal 
An important springtime outdoor event, called “Operation Greensirip,” 
has been scheduled for the weekend of May 5-7 as a means of pointing up 
the recreational potential of the historic Illinois & Michigan Canal which 
runs for about 95 miles southwesterly from Chicago to LaSalle. While the 
center of “Operation Greenstrip” events will be between Channahon and 
Morris, activities will be held all along the scenic waterway and its towpath 
from Summit to the vicinity of LaSalle-Peru. Boy Scouts will be hiking 
and camping on Friday, May 5-6, while a campfire program for adult and 
family campers is scheduled for Saturday night in Channahon. Planned for 
Sunday, May 7, are hiking, canoeing, nature study bird and wildlife observa- 
tion and historical exploration. 
Sponsor is the Open Lands Project of the Welfare Council of Metro- 
politan Chicago which is urging that the Illinois Department of Conserva- 
tion be given juridiction over the I&M Canal and adjacent lands so 
that recreational needs can be given priority consideration in future plan- 
ning. Illinois Audubon Society is among four other organizations cooperat- 
ing in efforts to save the entire canal area. Also several communities near 
the I&M Canal have passed resolutions favoring recreational develop- 
ment. They include the Lockport city council and park board, the Joliet 
city council and park board, the Romeoville village board, and the city 
councils of Lemont and Marseilles. 
Historically, the canal enjoyed a central role in Chicago and [Illinois 
history: Even before its completion in 1848, the knowledge that it would 
connect Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River was a spur to economic 
growth. Prior to the Civil War, the canal provided Chicago’s chief contact 
with the area south and west of the city. Despite competition from rail- 
roads, it remained a major means of bringing grain to Chicago into the 
1870’s. Eventually, the Illinois & Michigan Canal was put out of business by 
competition from the Sanitary and Ship Canal, and has not been used as a 
waterway since 1917. 
Development since its abandonment as a waterway has been limited. 
The Stevenson Expressway covers a portion. The Sanitary and Ship Canal 
is superimposed on the Illinois & Michigan Canal in Joliet, so that portion 
is gone. There is limited public access to a small portion at Channahon 
State Park, Gebhardt Woods State Park, and McKinley Woods Forest Pre- 
serve, all in the Morris-Channahon area. Some of the canal lands have 
been leased for industrial use. Portions are highly polluted. 
Status of the Canal today remains complicated. Because it was a federal 
land grant canal, the federal government held jurisdiction over the water- 
way and its lands, extending no less than 90 feet on each side (in many 
places more) until 1947 when, by Act of Congress, the federal rights were 
