Macon County Conservation District To Receive $300k Grant For Land Acquisition

The Macon County Conservation District was awarded a generous $300,000 grant from the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) program which will be used for land acquisition and development for public parks and open spaces. Nearly $60 million in grants were awarded to 118 parks across Illinois and the Macon County Conservation District was the only recipient in Macon County to receive the grant.

This announcement includes the largest round of grants in the 36-year history of the program. The project includes the acquisition of approximately 47 acres of land adjacent to the Bois du Sangamon Nature Preserve. The objective of the project is to acquire acreage adjacent to the Bois du Sangamon Nature Preserve to protect additional old growth mesic forest and increase the buffer adjacent to this old growth forest and allow better public access including parking, trails, shelter and signage to interpret the high quality natural areas.

The Bois Du Sangamon Nature Preserve is located in Oakley Township in the east central part of the county, on the eastern edge of the city of Decatur.

This site is 53.7 acres and is the District’s only holding that is a nature preserve. The site was donated to the District in 1979 and dedicated as a nature preserve in 1980. Visitors are allowed by permit access only.