(70 ILCS 805/5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 6308)
Sec. 5.
Any forest preserve district organized under this Act shall
have the power to create forest preserves, and for that purpose shall
have the power to acquire in the manner hereinafter
provided, and hold lands containing one or more natural forests or parts
thereof or land or lands connecting such forests or parts thereof, or
lands capable of being forested, or capable of being restored to a
natural condition, for the purpose of protecting and
preserving the flora, fauna, and scenic beauties within such district,
and to restore, restock, protect and preserve the natural forests and
such lands together with their flora and fauna, as nearly as may be, in
their natural state and condition, for the purpose of the education,
pleasure, and recreation of the public. Lands may be acquired
for the consolidation of such preserves into unit areas of size
and form convenient and desirable for public use and economical
maintenance and improvement and when in the judgment of the Board the
public access, use, and enjoyment of such preserves and other purposes
of this Act will be served by connecting any such preserves with
forested ways or links, lands for connecting links of such width,
length, and location as the Board deem necessary or desirable may be
acquired and held for such purposes and improved by
forestation, public roads, roads, and pathways.
Any such district may enter into contracts with any local governmental
entities for such district to pay any or all costs of improving and
maintaining any public roadway lying outside the district property
but providing public access to the lands and facilities of the district.
Any such district may also acquire
lands along or enclosing water courses, drainage ways,
lakes, ponds, planned impoundments or elsewhere which, in the judgment
of its Board are required to store flood waters, or control other
drainage and water conditions, or in any district in a county with a
population of over 300,000 and less than 3,000,000, to recycle secondary
treated sewage effluents or wastewater through the production and sale of
agricultural, silvicultural or aquacultural products, necessary for the
preservation and management of the water resources of the district, provided no
debris, tree, tree limbs, logs, shrubbery, or related growths and
trimmings therefrom shall be deposited in, along, or upon the bank of
any waters and water courses within the State of Illinois or any
tributary thereto where the same shall be liable to be washed into or
deposited along waters and water courses, either by normal or flood
flows, as a result of storms or otherwise, which may in any manner
impede or obstruct the natural flow of such waters and water courses.
Unforested lands adjacent to forest preserves may also be acquired to provide
for extension of roads and forested ways around
and by such preserves and for parking space for automobiles and other
facilities not requiring forested areas but incidental to the use and
protection thereof. All work done in or along any water course shall be
done in accordance with the provisions of "An Act in relation to the
regulation of the rivers, lakes, and streams of the State of Illinois,"
approved June 10, 1911, as heretofore and hereafter amended, insofar as
such Act may be applicable.
For the purposes of this Section, "acquiring land" includes acquiring
a fee simple, lease or easement in land.
(Source: P.A. 85-993.)
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