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<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The tenor of today’s March Forest Preserve District of
Cook County Board Meeting was decidedly upbeat and so was the agenda. Land was
acquired, new acreage was leased, volunteers and a new brochure were
celebrated, a new bike trail was approved, $1 million moved a step closer to
being dedicated to the land acquisition account, a fen received support for
funding, and a prairie received more protection.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The District previously approved the purchase of ~89 acres
of buffer land for Bluff Spring Fen in the Northwest portion of the County.
Now, ownership of the 77-acre Fen itself is being transferred from the
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to the Forest Preserve District. The
net gain to the District is 166 acres. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The District is leasing some 44 acres in Lemont from the
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. The lease is for 39 years and will
cost $10. The land makes a connection between Forest Preserve land to the
river.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Kent Fuller, Master Steward at Miami Woods, along with a
group of 18 8<sup>th</sup> graders from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Chicago</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">City</st1:PlaceType>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Day School</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> presented
their annual report to the Board today. The report was received with great
accolades from many Board members, including President John Stroger, who all
noted the great value that the volunteers bring to the District. They were
especially grateful that this program involved inner-city students and
encouraged more efforts such as these. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Erma Tranter, President of Friends of the Parks, presented a
new brochure entitled “Ten City Escapes: Easy day trips on public
transportation to nearby Cook County Preserves.” Again, praise was heaped
on the brochure, produced in collaboration with Friends of the Forest
Preserves, Chicago Area Mountain Bikers, and the Forest Preserve District.
General Superintendent Steve Bylina was praised by Tranter for opening the door
and setting the stage for collaborative efforts such as these.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The Forest Preserve District is involved with a partnership
with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the City of Des Plaines
to assist in bridging the gap in the District’s Des Plaines River 21 mile
trail system form Lake-Cook Road to North Avenue. Through an Intergovernmental
Agreement the IDNR will build a bicycle trail on District property and will
incorporate bike lanes in the reconstruction of <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address
w:st="on">J.J. Schwabb Camp Ground Road</st1:address></st1:Street>. The
District will not spend any money on the trail and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Des Plaines</st1:City></st1:place> will be responsible for
maintenance.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Commissioners Mike Quigley, Forrest Claypool, and Larry
Claypool introduced a resolution that is being sent to the Finance Committee
that would designate to the land acquisition account the recently
“found” $1 million in back fees for utility easements. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The District will be submitting a $73,000 C2000 grant
proposal to improve 17-acres of Dan McMahon Fen. The project would benefit many
species including the Hine’s emerald dragonfly, black dash butterfly, and
dion skipper butterfly. $23,000 represents an in-kind match of District staff
and volunteer time and equipment usage.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The streets and alleys in the District portion of Wolf Road
Prairie, which were platted back 1925 but were never developed, were vacated in
a move to further protect the Prairie from surrounding development. Now a
neighboring developer will have great difficulty accessing its land where, if
development took place, hydrological impacts would directly impact the globally
rare black dirt prairie. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Benjamin Cox<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Friends of the <st1:place w:st="on">Forest</st1:place>
Preserves<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>205 <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street
w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">W. Monroe St</st1:address></st1:Street>.</st1:address></st1:Street>,
4<sup>th</sup> Floor<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Chicago</span></font></st1:City><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">IL</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">60606-5013</st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>o. (312) 696-0070<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>c. (773) 398-1178<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="http://www.fotfp.org/">www.fotfp.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="mailto:benjamin@fotfp.org">benjamin@fotfp.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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