$6 Million Purchase Of 18.2 Acres Of Navy Land To Expand Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve

HIGHWOOD, IL — County board members this week approved a plan to spend $6 million to purchase an 18.2 acre parcel to expand the Forest Sheridan Forest Preserve.

Currently owned by the U.S. Navy and located on the east side of Patten Road in unincorporated Highwood, the land includes a bluff surrounded on three sides by the ravines of the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve.

“This is a special parcel that will enhance the preserve and is a unique habitat that our District is now able to protect,” said Paul Frank, the board member representing the area.

After closing the preserve for more than two years in response to the discovery of unexploded ordnance from its history as a military training facility, the nonprofit Openlands transferred nearly 72 acres to the forest preserve, along with a $1.36 million donation for conservation and restoration.

“This is a tremendous enhancement for Fort Sheridan,” Forest Preserve Executive Director Alex Ty Kovach said in a statement after the purchase was approved. “We’re elated with this result after 11 years of dedicated work, first by Openlands staff and then by the Forest Preserves.”

County officials said the area has statewide ecological significance, providing a home for at least six species of threatened or endangered plants, as well as a resting spot for thousands of migrating birds each year.

“Openlands did a wonderful job creating accessible trails through the sensitive ravine and blufftop habitats, installing bridges and staircases and did exceptional restoration work,” Frank said last year as the preserve was reopened to the public. “We look forward to building on their investments in the site and to incorporating the new acreage into the Fort Sheridan experience.”

On Tuesday, at a special meeting acting as the Lake County Forest Preserves Board of Commissioners, board members approved the acquisition even though the county has not yet budgeted any money to restore it.

According to county officials, funds will be allocated to a master plan to incorporate the new additions to the southern end of the forest preserve to its northern end if a bond referendum question is approved on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Voters will be asked whether they want to issue $155 million in bonds — $65 million to buy land and $90 million for restoration and access improvement. It would come to less than $33 a year in additional taxes for a home with a taxable value of $300,000.

“If approved, the new funding would be used to protect more land and expand the benefits the forest preserves provide to all of us," Kovach said.

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With last year's acquisition from Openlands and the purchase of the Navy property approved this week, the total contiguous Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve property will expand to about 350 acres.

Officials said the county's latest land acquisition will make managing the landscape easier and more cost-effective, since it would then be entirely surrounded by forest preserve property.

“This acquisition is a rare chance to preserve a highly developable piece of land,” said Angelo Kyle, forest preserve board president and county board member representing Park City and parts of Waukegan and North Chicago. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to purchase and eventually restore this valuable land.”

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Earlier:

• Bomb Squad Destroys Suspected Unexploded Ordnance At Openlands Lakeshore Preserve [October 2023]
• No 'Unacceptable Risk' To Users Of Openlands Lakeshore Preserve: Navy [June 2023]
• Openlands To Gift Lakeshore Preserve To Lake County Forest Preserves[June 2023]
• Navy's Openlands Explosives Report, Reopening Recommendations Complete [March 2023]
• Openlands Prepares Site Reopening Plan For Lakeshore Preserve [October 2022]
• Explosives Probe: Experts Convene At Openlands Lakeshore Preserve [December 2021]
• Navy Starts Explosives Assessment Of Openlands Lakeshore Preserve [September 2021]
• No End In Sight For Closure Of Openlands Lakeshore Preserve Beach [May 2021]