Forest Preserve District commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement that will create the Prairie Bluff Preserve from a vacant 638-acre area between Lewis Airport and Stateville Correctional Center.
The preserve, roughly 1 square mile, in Crest Hill should be open to the public by 2011.
The move, taken during a special board meeting, clears the way for development to begin in 2009 for at least one picnic area and more than 2 miles of trails for use by pedestrians and equestrian riders. District Executive Director Michael Pasteris said the trails could be linked to the existing Joliet Junction Trail.
The district also anticipates re-establishing native prairie grasses and reinvigorating wetlands. The district will leverage its control of the property to protect part of the aquifer recharge area that discharges groundwater into the nearby Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve.
The district will operate the preserve under an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The deal includes an additional 82 acres allocated to the Lockport Township Park District and the Illinois State Police.
The Park District will develop recreational facilities on the 72 acres it is allotted by the department, and state police will use its 10 acres for a firing range.