Letter: Bill to sell Lake Shabbona Park risks too much

Illinois representatives and senators have irresponsibly put a bill into motion – Senate Bill 867 – that lacks adequate research, communication, detailed terms and, above all, specificity.

The bill, if passed, would authorize the Illinois Director of Natural Resources to sell Shabbona Lake State Park to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation for $1. The bill states the DNR may enter into a land management agreement with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to manage, maintain, or operate the property, which would be required to remain open for public recreation.

First, selling land valued at $14.25 million – land that Illinois taxpayers have paid to improve and maintain for decades – to anybody for $1 is a slap in the face to everyone in Illinois.

Secondly, selling the park without disclosing the details of the land management agreement, and without inviting public comment on it in advance of a potential property transfer, is a reckless disregard for public input. Exactly how the powers, rights and responsibilities are assigned through the agreement would seem extraordinarily influential to not only the long-term success of managing the park through an agreement, but also the assurance the park will remain the beloved, free public recreation destination it is today.

Shabbona residents, the Shabbona and Waterman business communities, the visitors to the park, the people who have maintained and improved the park since the 1970s, and the Illinois taxpayers who funded those services, deserve better. Communicating more concrete information and additional historical viewpoints is vital to showing Illinois residents – from Rockford to Carbondale – that the public servants, who we pay to represent us, are working to serve the entire state responsibly.

Nichole Roller

Montgomery