The Southeastern Wisconsin Archaeology Program (SEWAP) ... 30 Years Later: A Model for Heritage Steward ship in the Forest Preserves of Cook County, Illinois

The Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) manages 70,000 acres of publically-held lands that provide essential wildlife habitat, recreational venues for metropolitan Chicago’s five million residents, and protection for more than 620 archaeological sites. In 2014, the FPCC and the University of Illinois’ Prairie Research Institute (PRI) worked cooperatively to develop the FPCC Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan. Units within PRI, including the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Illinois State Water Survey, and the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, collaborated with FPCC staff, resource professionals, and Cook County residents to develop a long-term management plan that integrates natural and cultural resource preservation goals with the needs of Chicago’s urban communities. The archaeological component of the FPCC Plan was heavily inspired by and modeled after SEWAP – a pioneering regional archaeological resource management program developed in the 1980s by Dr. Lynne Goldstein during her tenure at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.