Lakewood preserve set to grow again

For the second time this summer, the Lakewood Forest Preserve near Wauconda is set to get a little bigger.

Lakewood, which at 2,686 acres is Lake County's largest forest preserve, will grow by 5 acres under a deal being considered Thursday by two forest district committees.

The plan would have the district buy a Fremont Township site called the Grawe property - named after the family that's long owned the land - for about $300,000. The spot is about a half-mile south of Bonner Road and about a half-mile west of Fairfield Road, near a northwestern portion of Lakewood.

Lakewood's main entrance is on Route 176 west of Fairfield Road, but the sprawling preserve stretches south to Hawthorn Woods and west to Wauconda.

Although small, the parcel would make an important environmental acquisition because of its proximity to Broberg Marsh, a protected area that's known as a breeding area for birds, said Andy Kimmel, the forest district's deputy executive director.

The site would increase the buffer area around the 88-acre marsh, which is home to threatened and endangered species of waterfowl and many other animal and plant species.

It also could be turned into a bird-watching area overlooking the marsh, district executive director Tom Hahn said, similar to a new one at Rollins Savanna near Grayslake.

In July, the forest board agreed to a deal enlarging Lakewood by roughly one-twentieth of an acre. That site was on the north side of Route 176 and east of Fairfield Road, and it cost the district $9,000.

The forest board's land preservation and acquisition committee will discuss the latest proposal at 8:30 a.m. today at the district's main office near Libertyville.

The finance committee will review the plan at 1 p.m.

If both committees approve the plan, the full board could vote on the deal Tuesday, Sept. 9.