(The following story by Kathy Cichon appeared on the Suburban Chicago News website on March 5.)
WHEATON, Ill. — Forest Preserve District of DuPage County officials affirmed their position on the sale of land to Canadian National Railway on Tuesday, authorizing the president to send a letter declining any further discussions for a 1-acre site in Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve.
“I think I speak for all the commissioners here, that we’ve been pretty persistent that … the forest preserve is not a land bank for anyone. It’s not a land bank for the school district, municipalities and certainly not the railroad,” President D. “Dewey” Pierotti Jr. said. “In this case, No. 1, we can’t sell if we wanted to, and No. 2, they can’t condemn us.”
Both actions, forest officials said, are prohibited by law.
About two months ago Canadian National expressed interest in acquiring an acre of district-owned land near Powis Road and the intersection of the Canadian National and Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad tracks inside the Wayne preserve. Plans show it would be used to build a new track connecting the EJ&E track to Canadian National’s track.
John “Ole” Oldenburg, director of natural resources for the district, said the land use proposed by the railroad would impact natural wetlands and wildlife in the preserve, as well as affect users. If the connector track is built, it would cut off access to an underpass for existing EJ&E tracks used to connect the west side of the Wayne preserve to the east side. The east side is used for a model airplane field and off-leash dog area – both of which are fee-generating facilities for the district, Oldenburg said.
Having not seen the letter yet, Canadian National declined comment on the district’s decision. However the railway is still interested in talking with the forest district, if possible, said Jim Kvedaras, the railway’s senior manager of U.S. government and public affairs.
The district’s refusal to give up the land will not affect Canadian National’s proposal to merge the two rail lines, he said.