Officials Feeling Out Public On Wildlife Refuge
CHICAGO (WBBM) - Federal officials will be in McHenry County this week, feeling out local opinion on a proposed national wildlife refuge.
Newsradio 780's Debra Dale reports the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering turning about 11,000 acres in Illinois and Wisconsin into the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Debra Dale Reports
Podcast
If approved, the refuge could link existing conservation sites in Lake and McHenry Counties in Illinois and Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth Counties in Wisconsin.
Currently the closest national wildlife refuges to the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas are about 150 miles away.
Fish and Wildlife Service planners are holding two open houses in McHenry County this week.
The first open house will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the McHenry County Government Center Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock.
A second open house will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Lost Valley Visitor Center in Glacial Park. The park is located on Harts Road, west of the intersection with Route 31 in Ringwood.
You can also submit comments on the refuge proposal by e-mail at r3planning@fws.gov or you can send a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Division of Conservation Planning; Attn: Proposed Hackmatack NWR; BHW Federal Building, Room 530; 1 Federal Drive; Fort Snelling, MN 55111.
