Science & Nature
Navy Sells Coveted Land Featuring Bluffs, Ravines Along Lake Michigan to Lake County Forest Preserves
Lake County forest preserves along Lake Michigan offer access to rare bluffs leading down to the water. (Courtesy of Lake County Forest Preserve District)
It took more than a decade to negotiate, but the Lake County Forest Preserve District was finally able to acquire a key parcel of lakefront land from the U.S. Navy, filling a nearly 20-acre gap in the existing Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve in Lake Forest.
The Forest Preserves Board of Commissioners approved the $6 million purchase of the 18.2-acre property at a special meeting held July 9.
The land is a bluff surrounded on three sides by the ravines of the 71.5-acre Openlands Lakeshore Preserve, which was gifted to the Forest Preserves in 2023 by Openlands as an addition to Fort Sheridan.
“There’s not too many properties out there that present this type of opportunity to protect the land along Lake Michigan,” Alex Ty Kovach, the Forest Preserves executive director, said in a presentation to commissioners.
Board members unanimously approved the acquisition and applauded the district’s staff for their persistence in pursuing the property and keeping lines of communication open with the Navy.
“This is just so exciting. Fort Sheridan is so spectacular,” Commissioner Sandy Hart said, “and this is more beauty that’s going to be preserved for everybody.”
Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve and the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve, in green, with the new acreage in red. (Courtesy of Lake County Forest Preserve District)
Once the transaction closes, the property will create a contiguous parcel within the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve, making it easier and more cost-effective for the Forest Preserves to manage the landscape, officials said.
Some cleanup of the parcel is needed, Kovach said, and there’s some old infrastructure requiring removal.
Funding to restore the property is dependent on passage of a referendum in November, in which voters will decide whether to approve the sale of $155 million in bonds. Of that $155 million, $65 million would be designated for land acquisition and $90 million for public access improvements and habitat restoration.
Among the projects expected to benefit from the funds would be the integration of the new “Navy property” and the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve into the northern section of Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve.
Fort Sheridan was operated as a military base from its opening 1887 to its closure in 1993. The Department of Defense handed over parcels to the Lake County Forest Preserve District piecemeal, between 1994 and 2001. Openlands assumed ownership of its site (eventually gifted to the Forest Preserves) in phases as well, between 2007 and 2010.
Apart from offering free, public access to Lake Michigan, the Lakeshore and Fort Sheridan preserves are notable for their rare bluffs — up to 70-feet high — and ravines, comprising three separate ecosystems and untold micro-ecosystems. The unique setting is considered to be of statewide ecological significance and is home to at least six threatened and endangered plant species.
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]
