This page was created by Jane Darcovich.  The last update was by Dan Harper.

To Protect and Preserve: An Early History of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Illinois, 1900-1930

Preparations for the Future: Use and Conservation

In their advocacy for a forest preserves system, Perkins and his colleagues stressed the need to conserve land for public use. But making the forests available to the public required departing from a strict effort to "preserve" the forests in order to change them in some fashion. Examples were building roads and trails, constructing campsites and washroom facilities, or creating recreation facilities, such as golf courses or swimming pools. Beginning with the Plan Committee from which Perkins and his colleagues established early district goals, those who administered the preserves had to balance the sometimes contradictory requirements of keeping the forests “natural” with “improving” them for public use.

Through the 1920s and 1930s, the FPDCC acquired thousands of acres of land and expanded the services that patrons might enjoy. For example, as early as 1920, it created a special “Golf Committee” charged with setting aside land for golf courses and advertising for concessionaires to serve golfers.

By the early 1930s, the FPDCC had begun construction on roads and walking trails and recreational facilities, such as toboggan slides and swimming pools. The influx of funds and labor through the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration, and the Works Progress Administration increased the pace of these improvements.

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