Monday, March 20, 2000
Nature path defeats purpose, some fear

Paving through Blackhawk Springs may be too close for comfort for the river, vegetation and animals.

By GAYLE WORLAND
Rockford Register Star

It was a secret spot, so secluded only a handful of local fishermen knew about it. And Mike Gustin knew it well.

He would scramble down a tiny natural wall of stone to the small, rocky outcropping jutting over the Kishwaukee River. He'd put out a line and fish for smallies or northerns, or maybe just listen to the water lapping below his feet. Occasionally, he'd see deer in the woods just behind him.

"I don't know if you'll see many of those anymore," he sighed one recent afternoon, as a steady rain convinced him to pack up his rod and return to his truck at the edge of the Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve.

The source of his doubt stretched between Gustin and his pickup -- a wide, plowed, muddy path rutted with deep tire tracks. He pointed to a sign near the construction marked "Habitat Restoration."

"Habitat . . . for bikes?" he asked as he looked over the 10-foot-wide construction zone that's scheduled to become the first leg of the asphalt-paved Kishwaukee Bike Path. "I thought they were preserving this for birds and stuff."

Thanks to the construction, Gustin's secret fishing spot is gone, buried under dirt sliced away from a nearby hillside to make room for the bike path. Now, that hillside has become the centerpiece of a debate about how the county should preserve and/or develop its remaining patches of natural land and forest.

The $377,000 project temporarily ground to a halt Thursday after questions were raised as to whether sufficient environmental studies had taken place before the work began.

The bike path borders a high-grade section of the Kishwaukee River and might have cut through habitat for the osprey, a bird often mistaken for a bald eagle and endangered in Illinois, and the red-shouldered hawk, which is on the state's threatened-species list.

The project also violated its storm water permits by "making no effort to control erosion" during construction and allowing dirt to tumble into the river, said Jack Adam of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. "Personally," said Adam, "it just galls me to see them rip down that hillside."

Officials from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will inspect the area this week to study any wetlands or endangered species issues.

The forest preserve district, for its part, thought it had the IDNR's go-ahead and has finished a required archaeological study, said district landscape architect Tom Hartley.

But the construction "should not have commenced," said IDNR spokeswoman Carol Knowles.

Hartley still hopes the path, originally scheduled to open in September 1999, will be completed by July.

Part of the money to build this 2.3-mile segment of the Kishwaukee Bike Trail -- $135,000 -- came from IDNR's bike-path program. County taxpayers will pay the other $242,000, plus the salary of an assistant ranger hired to help maintain the path and other parts of the preserve. Eventually, the trail will extend from Blackhawk Road to Perryville Road.

County highway workers have cleared land for the trail, and Rockford Blacktop has the contract to pave the path and finish it.

The real cost

Kevin Kaltenbach, named 1999 Conservationist of the Year by the Sinnissippi Audubon Society, suggested running part of the bike path along Mulford Road so a favorite bluff wouldn't be destroyed.

In spring and summer, the hillside was covered in wildflowers like bloodroot, shooting stars, wild phlox and prairie trilliums. Now, it has been sheared away, leaving a 6-foot wall of plant roots.

The old horse trail that wound over that hill "was one of the premiere cross-country ski trails and hiking trails in the area," said Dave Morgan of the Rockford Bicycle and Ski Club.

Bob Cole, retired after 31 years with the forest preserve district and the Rockford Park District, was upset when he saw the plowed path, which measures 16 feet wide in some places.

"That's not a path," he said. "That's a road.

"They're exceeding the requirements a great deal, and they're destroying more than they're preserving."

Hartley said the path's width of 10 feet, plus a 6-foot mow strip on either side, "is pretty much an area standard now. Most paving machines need a minimum of 8 feet."

He said the trail edge will be revegetated with native plants.

But Fran Lowman of Wild Ones, a group that promotes natural landscaping, said she wishes her group had been allowed to rescue some of the wildflowers that were plowed under.

Kaltenbach agreed.

"They've got to be careful," he said. "These areas are really becoming rare."

Named for its unique bubbling springs, the 1,094-acre Blackhawk Springs is tucked into the southeast corner of the county and is a favorite bird-watching spot. An equestrian trail was recently cut through the eastern portion of the preserve.

Randy Nyboer, a DNR regional biologist, said endangered river otters and nesting birds relish the area's seclusion.

"What's really important along that Kishwaukee corridor is the size and undisturbed nature of the woods," Nyboer said.

Originally 30 percent forestland and 70 percent prairie, Winnebago County now has only a few pockets of woodlands.

According to the Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois ranks 49th among the 50 states in its percentage of surviving natural areas. Only Iowa ranks lower.

Balancing act

The Winnebago County Forest Preserve District is charged with the balancing act of preserving natural lands while meeting the recreational demands of a sprawling urban population.

According to state law, the district's job is to preserve, educate and provide recreation, a three-pronged approach that director Tom Kalousek takes seriously.

Kalousek joined the county in May 1999 after serving as deputy executive director of the Rockford Park District, long after the Kishwaukee bike path was planned.

While his predecessors "had a more conservation, preservation approach, I think we need a balance," Kalousek said. "I believe in finding solutions that result in a win-win situation."

Only 25 percent of the county's 8,400 acres of forest preserves is developed for camping, softball, picnicking and the like. The other 75 percent is kept in a restored or natural state.

Although he would like to see more public input on future bike-path projects, Kalousek said, "I believe that the controversy and debate over conservation and recreation will continue."

Cindy Skukrud, former president of the politically powerful McHenry County Defenders and now a member of Friends of the Kishwaukee River, agrees. Preservation of wildlife habitat is important, Skukrud said, but "we think it's important to have trails and access points so people can get to the river and enjoy it.

"It's one of those trade-offs. You can't have it totally both ways."

'Golden era'

The forest preserve district recently announced a $400,000 state grant that will allow it to buy 412 acres adjacent to Seward Bluffs Forest Preserve in western Winnebago County where the district wants to build a 130-acre recreational lake.

That project will leave the district with no money to buy more land, and the public will have to decide whether funding more land purchases is a priority, Kalousek said.

Bike paths are sure to be a strong selling point.

The demand for "multipurpose paths," in the jargon of recreation planners, "is a national trend, not just a Rockford trend," said Rick Strader, the park district's manager for planning and development and self-appointed "Path Man."

In a 1999 park district survey, 47 percent of respondents said they would support land acquisition for recreation paths; 25 percent want more land for open space and wildlife preservation.

"We don't have many places in the 21st century that haven't been intruded and paved over," said Strader, who encourages public input on trail routes.

"This is the golden era of rec paths. We're bringing a lot of money into the county, and we want to make sure that we're spending that money wisely."

The Rockford area received at least $3.5 million in bike-path grants from 1992-97, ranking it third in the nation for such funding. In October, Gov. George Ryan OK'd an additional $9.8 million for bike trails, including the Pecatonica Prairie Path connecting Rockford and Freeport.

Plans for the Blackhawk Springs bike path were discussed at several public meetings, forest preserve officials said. But Kaltenbach said he asked to comment on the trail route only after a former forest preserve employee gave him a heads-up about the project.

"I think trails are a good thing, as long as they're kept out of sensitive areas," said Kaltenbach, who grew up on a farm near Blackhawk Springs. He conducts bird counts there and knows the forest terrain like the back of his hand. "This piece of land is a gem."

"In order to save these places" and show off their beauty, "you've got to get people out to them," he said. "But you don't want to love them to death."

Copyright © 2000 Rockford Register Star.