The answer is as clear as a sunny afternoon on the trail. See the dozens of joggers, bikers, and children walking with parents – all surrounded in natural beauty. You’ll understand.

The Green Bay Trail is a pedestrian and biking path running parallel to the Metra Union Pacific North commuter railway. It was created in 1965 on the abandoned right-of-way of the former North Shore Electric Railway.

For decades, the native areas on the sides of the path were allowed to become a dark tunnel of buckthorn and other non-native plants. This neglect crowded out the native prairie plants, insects and animals that thrive in healthy habitats.

In 2010, a few neighbors started to improve a portion of the trail. That small group expanded and became Friends of the Green Bay Trail. It is a volunteer-managed 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has raised funding and volunteer support to restore the area along the trail. In Glencoe, a mature restoration has been created by removing invasive plants and restoring the trail with native plants and wildflowers.

Where once the trail was used irregularly as a path between towns, it is now used each summer by hundreds of families — biking, walking and enjoying the flowers, butterflies, and native plants.

Now, in cooperation with the villages and park districts, Friends of the Green Bay Trail is expanding its restoration initiatives through the Winnetka portion and the Glencoe portion, north of Maple Hill. That is a lot of new, tough terrain to be rehabilitated. But thanks to the supporters who volunteer their labor or who donate funds to purchase materials and hire contractors, it’s a realistic goal. When completed, a corridor of native plants will stretch from Winnetka Ave to Lake-Cook Rd.