Rock River Current
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STOCKTON — A 144-acre forest preserve in Jo Daviess County has been sold to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to allow for an expansion of Apple River Canyon State Park.
The Natural Land Institute closed on the $660,000 sale of Townsend Glade on Wednesday. The nonprofit plans to use the proceeds to acquire and protect additional land.
The preserve is covered mostly with forested land and several hill prairies and floodplain grassland. The Apple River runs through its western edge with a rare cliff ecological community along the banks. The cliffs are home to several Illinois endangered and threatened plant species, and the river contains two state-endangered freshwater mussels. The habitat is also utilized by the federally threatened northern long-eared bat.
The Natural Land Institute had purchased the land in May 2018 from Jim and Kitty Rhodes with the long-term view that it may eventually become part of the state park. The nonprofit’s role was to purchase and protect the land until such time that it could be bought and incorporated into Apple River Canyon State Park.
The land was purchased with grants from the Grand Victoria Foundation, Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, The Conservation Fund and private donations.
The Natural Land Institute has protected approximately 18,000 acres of land since its organization in 1958.
It currently owns 24 preserves protecting 3,263 acres of land and it holds 51 conservation easements on 4,554 acres of land owned by individuals and other conservation organizations.