Citizens for Conservation and The Duchossois Group teamed together to provide long-term conservation protection for the 246.5-acre Hill ‘N Dale Farm South property in Barrington Hills—bounded by Spring Creek Road (north), Ridge Road (east), Lake-Cook/County Line Road (south), and residents along Meadow Hill Road (west).
Spring Creek watershed corridor is one of the most desirable conservation-worthy properties in Northern Illinois. The purchase increases CFC’s owned-and-protected land to 777 acres in Lake/Cook/McHenry counties and is its 14th (and largest) preserve.
Hill ‘N Dale Preserve encompasses 4,060 linear feet of high-quality Spring Creek, a Fox River tributary. It honors the current name of the Duchossois property, reflecting the protection of the surrounding upland bluffs (Hill) and Spring Creek valley (Dale).
The purchase permanently protects the land as open space, and improves/protects a sensitive watershed highly significant to area aquifer recharge. It's also a critical wildlife corridor connected to the 4,000-acre Spring Creek Forest Preserve.
Restoring the natural ecosystem will provide important habitat for native plant and aquatic communities, grassland birds (such as Bobolink, Bittern, and Henslow’s sparrows), and wildlife that originally occupied this land, including endangered species such as monarch butterflies and rusty-patched bumblebees.
“This property’s high conservation value, coupled with CFC’s strong history of delivering quality restoration results, will have far-reaching impacts for the entire Barrington-area community, and the entire Northern Illinois region,” said Kathleen Leitner, CFC’s Board President.
Kim Duchossois said, “My family and I could not be more thrilled to have worked so closely with CFC over the past year to facilitate their purchase of the south part of Hill ‘N Dale Farm. We know how important this land is… and it was absolutely critical for our entire family to make certain the property would be protected and maintained as open space.”
Citizens for Conservation (CFC) is a volunteer-based organization with a 50-year history in the Barrington area. Learn more by visiting CitizensForConservation.org.