Kane County forest preserves grow in two land deals

Kane County’s Forest Preserves will grow another 95 acres with the purchase of land adjacent to the Dick Young Forest Preserve along Seavey Road in the southwest portion of Batavia.

Forest preserve commissioners approved the $1.3 million purchase from the Dow family this week with a unanimous vote. The vote needed to be unanimous because it involves the swap of 1 acre of existing land in the Dick Young Forest Preserve. The Dow family will retain 5 acres adjacent to the preserve, and they wanted to obtain 1 acre of the existing preserve that sits just east of the existing farmstead.

“Because we are gaining so much to the west, we feel confident that we’re not really losing anything in this [swap],” said Ben Haberthur, the executive director of the preserves.

Forest district officials purchased 24 acres of land from the same family last year.

The $1.3 million purchase price works out to $13,750 per surveyed acre. Haberthur said that’s about 10% above the appraised value in the area but a fair price.

Commissioners also accepted a land donation by the Treiber family of 7 acres. The property sits at the intersection of Big Timber Road and Tyrrell Road in Dundee Township. The family asked that the property remain a wooded area and that it be named for the family.

There now are almost 24,000 acres in the Kane County forest preserves.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20230614/kane-county-forest-preserves-grow-in-two-land-deals