Concerns about the direction of the Kane County Forest Preserve District led to a quick comparison with other local districts. DuPage County Forest Preserve District has over 25,000 acres, including some 60 preserves and three golf courses, but no large recreational venues. Will County FPD, which has over 20,000 acres, has preserves and education centers, but no golf courses, stadiums, or ice rinks. The McHenry County Conservation District has more than 25,000 acres but no golf courses or strictly recreational facilities. Cook County FPD, the largest and oldest district, has more than 68,000 acres that include dedicated preserves, lakes, aquatic centers, golf courses, boat ramps, and model airplane fields.
But as they celebrate their 100th anniversary, Cook County FPD is implementing a new master plan that focuses on nature-based recreation that has a minimal impact on the natural environment.
“Don’t expect baseball fields or ATV trails in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s new recreation master plan. Instead, the first recreation blueprint since 1929 will spend up to $8.6 million to encourage visitors to commune with nature and lose weight through activities such as sledding, canoeing, camping, and archery,”
reported Marni Pyke in a 3-19-13 Daily Herald article. Concerns about childhood obesity have factored in to an emphasis on walking and other compatible recreation that facilitates the enjoyment of nature.
“Supporters said that it’s about time the district – criticized in the past for being more about politics that preservation – analyzed its priorities. “The difference now is that (District Board President) Toni Preckwinkle hired the right people and told them to fix it,”
according to Benjamin Cox, director of the Friends of the Forest Preserves. Karen Selman, vice president of the Friends of Spring Creek, approved of the new plan too, saying
“We certainly don’t want them turned into park districts. We want them to maintain their naturalness and wildness.”
The Kane County FPD is also in the process of updating its master plan, but has taken a different direction in recent years. The 2008-2012 Master Plan listed a number of district goals in addition to expanding and improving the forest preserves, including:
- Provide year-round opportunities for recreation experience that relate to the leisure needs of the county residents;
- Offer more diversified programs and services that provide for all ages and interest groups and enhance the quality of life for the county residents;
- Provide high-quality facilities that meet the needs of all segments of the county;
- Enhance the existing natural resource programs and services that meet all community group needs;
- Create effective and efficient methods of acquiring, developing, operating and maintaining facilities and programs that accurately distribute costs and benefits to public and private interests.
These may be worthwhile goals, but taken with the leases and IGA’s listed earlier, there is room for concern that the KCFPD is blurring the distinction between a forest preserve district and a park district. Programs, services, and facilities should be secondary to preservation. In updating the master plan, the District should reanalyze its priorities and practices to more closely align with the mission statement. Rather than attempting to provide recreational programs, experiences, and facilities to meet the leisure needs of all ages and interest groups, it should focus on the core mission to preserve the nature of Kane County for the education, recreation, and pleasure of its citizens.