Morton Arboretum honors Kendall County Forest Preserve District

YORKVILLE – The Fox River Bluffs Forest Preserve in Yorkville is literally growing into one of the premier properties of the Kendall County Forest Preserve District system.

The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, which knows a thing or two about planting and nurturing trees, has taken notice of what has taken root near Yorkville.

The Kendall district has been named the winner of the arboretum’s Public Natural Areas Award for 2021, an honor designed to celebrate stewardship and advocacy of natural areas on public property.

Covering 168 acres, the Fox River Bluffs preserve is located west of Yorkville near the Hoover Forest Preserve.

The district acquired the property in 2015 with the goal of restoring 99 acres of the former farmland to a prairie and reforested natural area.

In the spring of 2020, the district’s staff and volunteers planted 31,000 native trees and shrubs on 47 acres of the preserve.

The preserve is expected to be opened to the public in 2023.

Forest Preserve Director Dave Guritz said volunteers were one of the keys to getting the work accomplished and noted that students from the Oswego East High School Ecology Club were involved in the project.

The Kendall County Forest Preserve Commission on Dec. 7 approved the sale of carbon tax credits generated by the tree plantings to a Delaware firm for slightly more than $17,000.

Forest Preserve District President Judy Gilmour said the district will operate under an $8.2 million balanced budget for 2022.

The district employs 10 full-time staff members and 34 part-time and seasonal support staff, who are assisted by volunteers who help with a variety of projects, maintenance work, summer camps and other programs.

Kendall County has 26 forest preserves covering nearly 3,000 acres. Most of the preserves are located along the Fox River corridor and boast what Guritz describes as high-quality woodlands, prairies, wetlands, streams and other natural areas.

A major event for the district in 2021 was the opening of the Pickerill Pigott Forest Preserve on Minkler Road near Oswego in June. The district has received an $828,200 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to renovate the estate house and architects are already working on plans for the work.

The district also received $330,000 in American Rescue Plan Act federal funds, allowing for the hiring of full-time and seasonal grounds and maintenance staff, trail improvements at the Hoover Forest Preserve and other maintenance projects.