Forest district loses sight of mission

Forest district loses sight of mission

Kudos to the Elgin Area League of Women Voters for the outstanding report about the mismanagement (my conclusion) of our forest preserves in Kane County. As a former supporter of every referendum to raise taxes to preserve land, I can emphatically state that not only will I never vote yes again for a forest preserve referendum, I will actively campaign to defeat it, given present conditions.

Forest preserve officials have used referendum funds for purposes taxpayers never intended, opened too many preserves to the cruel practice of bow hunting (putting residents in danger), and made plans to allow private industries to profit by mining our public lands.

In fact, forest preserve district President John Hoscheit is so out of touch with what residents want that he actually believes a referendum to allow mining would be approved by voters. He should go for it. Voters could then send him a message about the meaning of the word preserve. While he’s at it, how about a referendum asking residents if they approve of the unsafe practice of bow hunting in forest preserves? Or if they want a forest preserve board that is separate from the county board?

Kane County residents deserve to have forest preserve officials who actually care about our public lands and wildlife that should be held in public trust for current and future generations.

Billita Jacobsen

Carpentersville