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Re: Allerton Park



The problem that we face in Newton County, Indiana is; all of the property
that is state owned is taken out of the local tax base .  The last thing
that commissioners or local government want to do, is raise your taxes,
especially if there is a election coming. The Farm Bureau has a coalition
for "Farm Land Preservation", because of the amount of ag land being taken
out of ag zoning. Even if it is a preserve of some type, it is calculated
into the approximate 5000 acres per day going from ag land to something else
(residential, commercial ect.) in this country. Urban Sprawl, and I suppose
a method of keeping it in suburbia.
 Our Governor supports this , Farm Bureau has clout.  Local government has
sued IDNR over a small parcel to test a new ordinance that they made saying,
no government agency can purchase over 10 acres without their permission.
We are located in an area that the Army Corp. has done numerous assessments
on the Kankakee River and Sumava Resorts to determine flood control.  U.S.
Fish & Wildlife has designated The Grand Kankakee Marsh as a national
Wildlife Refuge, which runs right through Sumava Resorts. Generations of
families have owned this land since it was drained and will not be put out ,
which is part of what they feared. Once again tax bases would be taken out,
although the federal government does propose some compensation.
Ironically, we are strategically in a location where the Nature Conservancy
also picked up a large track of land 8000 acres, which connects about 23,000
acres of reserve. Perhaps you may have heard of Beaver Lake and Bogus
Island. Once on the map or some maps, once the largest lake in Indiana, the
floodplains of the Grand Kankakee, Wet prairies and marsh.  Where many came
to hunt and fish, a paradise of sorts in it's native state and also a
stopping place for the migratory birds.

Each remnant of land has a story to be told and there are people who are
part of that story.  The Nature Conservancy is helping the people in the
county by keeping some land in ag production and gradually building a fund
for the taxes that would be lost, the IDNR, fish & wildlife div. pays no
compensation to the people because the land was purchased from the sale of
hunting and fishing licenses.
My biggest job is to encourage and inspire people to see the natural beauty
and benefits  of prairie plants& grasses, wetlands,
 wet prairies, and restoration. Helping them to understand erosion, native
plants and the  benefits of a wetlands natural filter system.
I like many, do not completely understand the eco system in it's entirety
nor am I qualified as any kind of expert, that why I've only listened on
this list.
there are many more people concerned with how much money is going to come
out of their pockets, then there are keepers of the earth.
Encourage all that you can, show them why the 1800 acres near Allerton Park
should be preserved,
Find out what the opposition is, and turn it around.
Carla O


----- Original Message -----
From: Ed and Gale <galed@midwest.net>
To: Prairie Group <prairie@mallorn.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2000 6:27 PM
Subject: Allerton Park


> We read a short, sketchy article in today's paper about Allerton Park,
(west
> of University of Illinois).
>
> "U of I has postponed a decision to sell 1,800 acres near Allerton Park to
> the IDNR. The plan to sell the property to establish a tall grass prairie
> reserve generated stiff opposition from farmers, local governments and
> property rights advocates."
>
> "The sale would have created one of Illinois' largest prairie reserves and
> added a unique buffer zone to the northern edge of the wooded, 1,500 acre
> Allerton Park."
>
> Can anyone near Champaign-Urbana have more info about this proposed sale
and
> how prairie advocates can help?
>
> Ed Cook
> Southern IL
>
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