Lyman Woods Forest Preserve is an ecological gem waiting to be discovered. At least that’s the way it’s viewed by Wallace Brown, a commissioner of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, and that’s why he has campaigned the last few years for improvements in the Downers Grove preserve.
“Our evaluation of Lyman Woods found it to be of very, very high quality with a multitude of ecosystems,” said Brown (R-Downers Grove). “There’s a lot of valuable ecological areas in there, so it’s an excellent place for teaching children.”
A master plan for Lyman Woods was approved this year, and the Forest Preserve District is negotiating with an architectural firm to build an interpretive center. The plan calls for improving trails, adding parking and restoring two prairies.
The initial stage of the project is being funded by a $1 million grant from the Department of Natural Resources.
“We are prioritizing and figuring out how far that million will go,” said Andrea Hoyt, manager of project development for the district’s planning and development department. Hoyt said construction is to begin around March 2001.
Lyman Woods is just one of several forest preserves in southeastern DuPage that are scheduled for face lifts in the next year or two.
Two years ago, the forest district approved a $75 million bond issue and gave $10 million to each of the six districts in the county for buying open land. It saved the other $15 million for districtwide use. Now those newly acquired parcels are being made user-friendly with plans for trails, parking lots and other amenities.
The acquisitions will continue. In early May, the district sold $74.2 million in bonds, with $43 million going to purchase the 615-acre St. James Farm at Winfield and Butterfield Roads. The other $31.2 million will be used to buy more land throughout the county.
“There are a lot of projects going on because we got a lot of money from the state this year and last year . . .,” said Alice Peterson (R-Woodridge), chairwoman of the district’s planning and development committee. “We’ll continue to acquire more land and we’re looking at putting in more trails. That’s a huge issue. People want to be able to get out into the preserves.”
Here’s a look at some of the improvements planned for forest preserves in southeastern DuPage County:
Lyman Woods Downers Grove
This preserve has been leased to the Downers Grove Park District, which will manage the land and interpretive center.
The master plan calls for a new parking lot for roughly 35 cars near the center. Part of the trail through the north end of the preserve will be improved (probably with a crushed sandstone surface) to make it accessible to the handicapped.
The plan for the interpretive center has been controversial. Some residents didn’t want to see any building in the preserve. A site has been chosen south of 31st Street and east of Highland Avenue, where there are underground utility lines.
“Special-interest groups had a lot of input into this because Lyman Woods has a high ecological rating,” said Hoyt. “We had to look at storm-water issues, at endangered and threatened species reports and what would be least disturbed.”
A separate project, to be completed over the next 10 years, includes restoring two prairies and improving several streams by partially filling them in with rocks to decrease erosion.
Greene Valley Woodridge
Crews have been installing new trails on the east side of Greene Road, from the landfill up to Hobson Road. It eventually will connect with the trail system through Woodridge, said Hoyt. Observation decks are being built for interpretation areas along the new trails, which are expected to be finished in the fall. Greene Valley also is slated to get a picnic shelter and a dog exercise field.
The landfill portion of Greene Valley also is getting a trail this summer. The landfill stopped accepting trash in 1996, and in January, commissioners approved $1.2 million for the first phase of converting the dump into a recreational area. The district’s Department of Environmental Services is overseeing the rebirth of the landfill.
Phase one, scheduled for completion in October, includes putting a road around the bottom of the landfill and a trail around the top and building a road to the top and two parking lots. A strip of experimental prairie vegetation is being planted on each side of the hill.
“It’s a test plot because we’re not sure which native species will do the best,” said Joe Benedict, director of environmental services. “Illinois is flatland, and this is a 190-foot hill. It gets very dry up there because of the wind. So we’ll see what happens.”
The landfill first will be open only to those securing special-use permits. The district will monitor how the public responds to the area’s unique aspects, including gas-extraction wells that stick up through the hill. Then it will decide on what to include in phase two.
“This isn’t a public health issue, it’s a public safety issue,” said Benedict. “One of our concerns in bringing vehicles to the top is how reasonable people will be in going down. We also have to restrict access to the gas-extraction wells. If we tell people to leave them alone, will they leave them alone?”
Oldfield Oaks Darien
This preserve, at Lemont Road and 87th Street, is one of the district’s newest. “The eastern portion of the county doesn’t have a lot of open space,” said commissioner Tom Bennington (R-Downers Grove), “and this was one of the last remaining pieces. It has some wetlands and an extensive collection of different types of trees and vegetation.”
Hoyt said district officials walked through the preserve with interested residents in April to get their ideas on where to put trails. The district is working on a master plan.
“The first thing we want to do is have a trail going through, so people can use it,” said Brown, “and then we’ll need a little parking lot. We don’t know yet where that ought to be.”
DUPAGE COUNTY FOREST PRESERVES IN THE AREA
Maple Grove
Location: On Maple Avenue, 1 mile west of Main Street, Downers Grove.
Facilities: 82 acres, parking, multipurpose trail and interpretive trail, non-reservable picnic areas, drinking water.
Special features: Wildlife including great horned owls and southern flying squirrels; a black maple savanna and upland maple forest that are hundreds of years old; more than 300 plant species, some rare and endangered.
Greene Valley
Location: Off Greene Road, between Hobson Road and 75th Street, Woodridge.
Facilities: 1,425 acres, parking, multipurpose trails, picnic areas, fishing, drinking water.
Special features: A self-guided nature trail called Tricky Tree Key Trail; Thunderbird Youth Camp, with nine campsites set aside for use by recognized youth organizations; an open, wooded savanna east of Greene Road and an aged oak woodland in the southwest section.
Hidden Lake
Location: On east side of Illinois Highway 53, one-quarter mile south of Butterfield Road, Glen Ellyn.
Facilities: 390 acres, parking, fishing.
Special features: The lake, surrounded by an oak forest, is home to bass, crappie, catfish, carp and sunfish.
Egermann Woods
Location: On Hobson Road, east of College Drive, Lisle.
Facilities: 92 acres, 1.3-mile mowed turf trail.
Special features: This relatively undeveloped forest preserve contains one of the few remaining presettlement oak forests left in Du Page County. Native animals include raccoons, owls and deer.
Fullersburg Woods
Location: On Spring Road, one-quarter mile north of Ogden Avenue, Oak Brook.
Facilities: 783 acres, parking, multipurpose trails, Nature Adventure Trail, fishing, non-reservable picnic area.
Special features: There are many educational opportunities, with an Environmental Education Center, Visitors Center with Living Marsh Exhibit, interpretive trail, wildflower trail and the Graue Mill.
Willowbrook Wildlife Center
Location: On east side of Park Boulevard, 1 mile south of Roosevelt Road, Glen Ellyn.
Facilities: 50 acres, parking, multipurpose trail, non-reservable picnic area, drinking water.
Special features: This wildlife rehabilitation and education center provides care and medical treatment for injured and orphaned native wildlife. There are educational programs, wildlife exhibits and a nature trail.
Lyman Woods
Location: On Highland Avenue, just south of 31st Street, Downers Grove.
Facilities: 128 acres, parking, multipurpose trail.
Special features: These thick woods and wetlands have been underused, but plans call for a visitors center, added hiking trails and a restored prairie. Ecologists consider this one of the best preserved areas in the county.
Waterfall Glen
Location: On Cass Avenue, south of Interstate Highway 55, Darien.
Facilities: 2,470 acres, parking, water, bathrooms, trails ranging from 2.5 to 9 miles, fishing, a marked orienteering course.
Special features: This is one of DuPage’s largest forest preserves. It surrounds Argonne National Laboratory. An open field in the southwest section is used by model aircraft enthusiasts.
