Kane County loses another conservation pioneer

There are various versions of the types of trash Dick Young found floating in a stream behind Yorkville National Bank while children played near it. But all agree Young cited that moment from his days working as a contractor as the seed of outrage that sprouted into a passion for wilderness conservation that fueled the rest of his life.

Family reported Young’s death to Kane County Forest Preserve District officials Sunday. Those who knew him noted the loss of a man who was a hero in at least two ways.

Local residents will recognize Young’s name for the forest preserve named after him. At more than 1,000 acres, the Dick Young Forest Preserve (containing the Nelson Lake Marsh) in Batavia is the largest natural area in the district’s holdings.

Long before Young worked as a local conservationist, he earned two Purple Hearts in the battle for Iwo Jima in World War II.

“If you ever met him you knew he was only about 5 feet 5 inches and had a slight build,” said longtime Forest Preserve Executive Director Jon Duerr. “So you almost can’t imagine this guy as a Marine, lobbing grenades and running up hills. But he had a very distinguished military career.”

Home from the war, Young took up a new fight after falling in love with Kane County’s plants and wildlife. Young worked for both the county and forest preserve district at various points, playing a key role in identifying where responsible development could occur and taking a firm stance about which natural areas must remain sanctuaries. Young put in the field work to identify those areas, eventually authoring three editions of “Kane County Wild Plants & Natural Areas.”

You can find Mary Ochsenschlager’s name in the dedication of that book. She spent many hours walking in Bliss Woods and the Dick Young Forest Preserve with Young.

“He would always say, ‘Boy, you wouldn’t believe the opportunities that you have if you write a book.’ It gave him a lot of credibility with people who didn’t know him. If he was interested in seeing an area preserved that a family owned, he’d bring that book and give it to the family. Just showing them the pictures of the plants and talking about them would just leave them awe-struck,” Ochsenschlager said.

“He brokered the preservation of so many areas, including around the new Stearns Road Bridge. He just had this way of making you appreciate things differently. You’d find a plant, and maybe it wasn’t very showy, but you’d read what his book said about it and you’d say, ‘Oh, I love this plant.’ ”

Drew Ullberg, director of natural resources for the forest preserve district, said Young’s death marks the loss of the final conservation pioneer of the area.

“Along with Ray Schulenberg, Floyd Swink and Dr. Bob Betz, Dick Young was instrumental in the 1960s and 1970s in making people aware of the importance of our last vestiges of true native Illinois,” Ullberg said. “In his ramblings along railroads, in old woodlots and through prairie relics, he became the first modern conservationist to catalog the plant life of dozens of now publicly-owned and preserved natural areas in Kane County. He tirelessly worked to have critical natural areas preserved, and then often worked along to improve preserved areas.”

Visitation for Young is Wednesday at the McKeown-Dunn Funeral Home, 210 S. Madison St., Oswego. A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Church of the Good Shepherd, 5 E. Washington St., Oswego.