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News
Kendall County: Where the bison will roam? : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisKendall County: Where the bison will roam?
| Creative ideas flow at forest preserve district focus group sessions
| by Matt Schury
| 3/4/2010
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Establishing a bison preserve, adding an ice hockey rink and building a skateboard park were among some of the more creative suggestions gleaned from the 65 Kendall County Forest Preserve users that participated in the district's focus groups last month.
Four focus groups met in February to discuss the long-term plans of the forest preserve.
The focus group was facilitated by Brook McDonald, president of the Conservation Foundation, and Gail Johnson, president of Face to Face Communication and Training. Kendall County Forest Preserve President Pam Parr is a partner in that group and said that the focus group work was done free of charge.
Despite the downturn in the economy, the largest response from participants was for the district to keeping purchasing open space.
Whitney French, director of the Farnsworth House Historic Site in Plano, was a participant in the focus group and said the urge for the district to continue buying land in spite of the economic downturn might be because land prices are cheap.
"We purchased land when developers were breathing down our necks," French recalls.
She said now that the pressure is off, people might not want to buy the land.
"It needs to be about that perfect timing when the land values are low and you are not panicking."
In 2007, 68 percent of Kendall County voters approved a referendum giving the County Forest Preserve District the authority to issue up to $45 million worth of bonds to purchase more forested and open space areas in the county from private owners.
According to Forest Preserve Director Jason Pettit, to date the district has spent about $35 million for land acquisition and another $5.5 million for capital improvements
Pettit acknowledged that that a new referendum to purchase open space hasn't been "kicked around" yet but he couldn't rule it out in the future.
"With the way the economy is, it will certainly be a little while before we start considering that," he said.
Parr said the forest preserve might need to think about another referendum soon.
"Probably not in the next year or two but now is the time to start thinking and planning for it," she said during the open house displaying the results of the study.
In addition to purchasing land, the summary of the focus groups shows three common themes: pursue connectivity to other preserves, build more trails, maintain the preserve the district has and add educational opportunities.
"It was pretty much: we want more-more of everything," Parr summed up.
Additionally, Parr noted that the participants all had positive things to say about the Ellis Equestrian Center in Lisbon Township.
"They were pretty elated that we had Ellis," Parr said
Newark resident Cindy Benson, who is a member of the Fox Valley Trail Riders, was one of those elated people.
She said that she found that many of the private centers are more specialized and don't offer beginning lessons.
"Usually when you get to stables, it's more show and a higher level or specialized," Benson said.
She added that horses can boost confidence in children and therapeutic riding is a lot of balance and strengthening and can be a form of mild exercise.
Benson also mentioned that her group is looking for an increase in the number of horse trails. She said that members in her group now drive about two hours to go trail riding at parks.
The group would also like the Forest Preserve to look into an equestrian campground at Hoover Forest Preserve where they can camp over night.
Elsewhere those surveyed said they wanted the district to incorporate green design and pursue eco-restoration. A few participants also expressed a desire for dog parks; canoeing areas and moving forest preserve information online.
Tom Thomas, with the non-profit group known as the Forest Foundation of Kendall County, said it was an effective way to get the pulse of the residents of Kendall County.
He said that it is no secret that people move to Kendall County because they have a desire for open space. Thomas added that the results would give Pettit and the board some direction.
"But how do you connect the dots between their desire for open space, coupled with the master plan of the forest preserve?" Thomas said. "I think it's in line with what we thought the citizens were interested in."
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