Lake Forest Open Lands was founded in 1967 by a group of residents on north Green Bay Road. Concerned that future development pressures would destroy the prairies and woodlands to the west of them, they created Open Lands and began to solicit local property owners to work with it.

Progress was slow, but ten years later Open Lands had succeeded in preserving much of what is now the 100-acre Skokie River Nature Preserve. Much of the land was donated, though early fund drives saved several key parcels just ahead of the developers.

Open Lands continued to grow slowly. By the early 1980's its board of committed citizens had expanded from the original six to 36. Family and business participation grew to slightly more than 200 members by 1984.

External forces were at work, however, which would change the role Open Lands would play in Lake Forest in the coming years. Land values rose dramatically at the same time the charitable gift incentives were drastically curtailed by the new tax laws of 1986. Lake Forest also began its rapid final push to full development, which continues to this day. Suddenly Open Lands found itself competing with wealthy developers and speculators for lands, which in some cases were now the owners' chief source of potential income.

Open Lands responded with a wide variety of techniques, which remain the basis of its land preservation "arsenal" today.

• Persons continue to donate land, increasingly using the "conservation easement" technique, which preserves the land but leaves it in their ownership. By 2001 Open Lands has preserved over 81 acres with this method.
• Open Lands purchases land outright for preservation, often working with adjacent landowners and conservation easements. In 1994 Open Lands committed to raise privately nearly $7,000,000 to preserve nearly 100 acres of new and crucial open space on the east and west sides of Lake Forest. This work was completed by 1998.
• Open Lands sometimes buys land outright and develops part of it to recoup the purchase cost. In 1989 Open Lands purchased the 32-acre McIlvaine estate on Westleigh Road and, through a "conservation development," was able to preserve half of it as permanent open space. Since then, Open Lands has done two other projects, collectively preserving nearly 200 acres.
• Open Lands works with developers to ensure the preservation of open space. Since 1985 Open Lands has worked with many planners and developers to create new neighborhoods in sympathy with the landscape, most notably in 1997 with R. M. Swanson and Associates at Everett Farm, where 15 acres were sold to Swanson for development and the remaining 35 preserved as open space.
• Open Lands works with local public bodies in partnership to preserve open space. In 1981 Open Lands and the City began a joint project in which the City leases unusable open space to Open Lands for development as nature preserves. This agreement was greatly expanded in 1995 to provide additional public nature preserves, now totaling 168 acres. In 1988 the City and Open Lands began a cooperative effort with the Forest Preserve District which eventually resulted in the preservation of the 550-acre Middlefork Savanna in northwestern Lake Forest.
• Open Lands completed $10,000,000 in tax-exempt bond financing in 1999 with the Illinois Educational Facilities Authority to fund the restoration and construction of new nature preserves and a nature center.
• Open Lands opened the Lockhart Family Nature Center in the summer of 2000, the community's first establishment devoted exclusively to environmental education.

The result today is that since 1967 the Lake Forest Open Lands Association has played a key role in making Lake Forest the unique community it is. Through its private efforts, now supported by 1400 families and businesses, and working cooperatively with local public bodies, Open Lands now owns or leases over 700 acres which are (or will be) developed as public nature preserves. These preserves add value to the community by:

• adding to the overall ambience and high property values of Lake Forest;
• educating over 2500 of the community's schoolchildren each year through Open Lands' ongoing outdoor education program, working with every public and private school in Lake Forest;
• providing habitat for native prairie plants and animals which would otherwise be forced out by development;
• preserving the historical landscape which gives Lake Forest residents a "feel" for what the land was like before the town was settled some 150 years ago; and
• providing people of all ages the opportunity for recreation, exercise, and relaxation in a natural setting just minutes from home.

The Lake Forest Open Lands Association is proud of it's over 40 years of unique service to a unique community. See for yourself, and enjoy our great out-of-doors.