Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve in Crete Township has expanded after an almost 500-acre acquisition by the Forest Preserve District of Will County. The recent acquisition was the second largest in District history. (Forest Preserve photo)

After eyeing an almost 500-acre piece of property in eastern Will County since the 1970s, the Forest Preserve District of Will County closed on the parcel recently, making it the second largest property acquisition since the District was formed in 1927.

The 495.27-acre parcel, located north of Illinois 394 and adjacent to Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve in Crete Township, has been largely untouched except for farming. It features the origins of Plum Creek and glacially carved moraines.

“This is about protecting land in perpetuity,” said Colleen Novander, the Forest Preserve’s director of planning and land preservation.

The purchase expands Goodenow Grove from 891 acres to 1,386, making it the District’s second largest preserve after Hickory Creek Preserve in Mokena. The new addition also furthers the 3,300-acre Plum Creek Greenway preservation program, which began in 1938.

The $4.3 million acquisition is part of the District’s $50 million Capital Improvement Program launched last year to preserve open space before it is lost to development. Of that total, $25 million is dedicated to land acquisition. The District’s goal is to protect 1,100 acres, and with this purchase, 747 acres have been secured.

The new property will buffer Plum Creek and its greenway, protect habitat for threatened and endangered species, and could one day serve as a corridor for an extension of the Vincennes Trail.

In one fell swoop

“Acquiring 500 acres in one fell swoop is once in a career,” said Dave Robson, the Forest Preserve’s natural resource management supervisor. “That does not happen every day.”

A land use plan will be developed in the coming year to assess wetlands, potential access points and recreation opportunities before creating a master plan that will guide future public access and restoration work.

The only larger acquisition in District history was the 1991 purchase of more than 500 acres at Lake Renwick Preserve in Plainfield.

(Story and photo courtesy of the Forest Preserve District of Will County)