In a watershed second for suburban land preservation efforts, a Barrington-based conservation group introduced Monday it’s shopping for the Richard Duchossois household’s 246.5-acre Hill ‘N Dale Farm South, lengthy thought-about one of the vital essential and fascinating tracts of open house in northern Illinois.
Residents for Conservation’s acquisition of the land close to Barrington Hills will guarantee it stays protected open house and supply a important wildlife hall with the 4,000-acre Spring Creek Forest Protect subsequent door.
A deliberate restoration of the positioning, to be referred to as Hill ‘N Dale Protect, will present essential habitat for native plant and aquatic communities, grassland birds just like the bobolink, bittern and Henslow’s sparrows, and endangered species similar to monarch butterflies and rusty-patched bumblebees, the conservation group’s leaders say.
“We’ll construct a gorgeous advanced net of Illinois’ native life right here at this protect,” mentioned Jim Vanderpoel, a member of the Residents for Conservation board.
The positioning is now being evaluated to create a multiyear ecological administration plan for the property, the group mentioned. Public entry to the protect will likely be offered by actions sponsored by the group, which can also be open to the potential for horse trails.
The group additionally has pledged to take care of the long-lasting white exterior fences that surrounds the land.
All advised, the acquisition and restoration carries an estimated $10 million price ticket, in line with the group. Residents for Conservation acquired practically half that by a $4.9 million grant from the Illinois Clear Vitality Group Basis, the most important such grant awarded for a single-parcel buy.
Residents for Conservation board President Kathleen Leitner mentioned different fundraising efforts have introduced the entire accessible to $9.5 million.
“This property’s excessive conservation worth, coupled with CFC’s robust historical past of delivering high quality restoration outcomes, could have far-reaching impacts for the whole Barrington-area group, in addition to the whole northern Illinois area,” Leitner mentioned.
Positioned inside the Spring Creek watershed hall, the property is surrounded by Spring Creek Street on the north, Ridge Street on the east, Lake-Cook dinner Street on the south and Meadow Hill Street on the west.
The Duchossois household labored carefully with Residents for Conservation for the previous 12 months to rearrange the sale.
“We all know how essential this land is to the group, and it was completely important for our whole household to make sure that the property could be protected and maintained as open house,” mentioned Kim Duchossois, daughter of the late Arlington Park Chairman Richard Duchossois.
Key to the household’s determination to promote, she mentioned, was Residents for Conservation’s lengthy historical past within the space and its promise to revive the positioning to its pure splendor.
“I am additionally more than happy that the Barrington-area members of our household will likely be contributing a good portion of their proceeds of the sale again to the CFC marketing campaign to guard this land in perpetuity,” she mentioned.
Though not inside Barrington Hills’ company limits, the property is surrounded by the village. Village President Brian Cecola was enthused by Residents for Conservation’s acquisition of the land.
“Residents for Conservation’s dedication to land preservation aligns with our village’s aims of preserving open areas and sustaining our 5-acre zoning. It is a win-win for everybody concerned,” he mentioned.
Among the many new protect’s options will likely be will likely be 4,060 linear toes of the high-quality Spring Creek, a tributary of the Fox River. Preservation of the land has been recognized as a key ingredient of the Barrington Greenway Initiative, the Spring Creek Watershed-based plan, and the McHenry and Lake County Inexperienced Infrastructure Plans.
“It is all a part of an effort to attempt to join the panorama to different high quality landscapes, but in addition offering alternatives for nature and other people to benefit from the background,” mentioned Jim Anderson, a Residents for Conservation volunteer and restoration adviser.
The acquisition would be the group’s 14th and largest protect. The 50-year-old nonprofit group could have 777 acres in Lake, Cook dinner and McHenry counties underneath its care.
“We’re restoring this for nature and all that decision Barrington house,” Residents for Conservation Restoration Supervisor Kevin Scheiwiller mentioned.
Comments