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Nearly two centuries after a maple grove gave Sugar Grove its name, the heart of those woods is now in public hands.
The Forest Preserve District of Kane County closed Oct. 7 on a 33-acre addition it to the eastern side of Bliss Woods Forest Preserve, the county’s second-oldest preserve. The district paid $545,985 for the land, or $16,500 per acre.
Here’s what to know:
A grove with deep roots: Sugar Grove was named in 1834 after a 500-acre woodland tucked into a bend of Blackberry Creek, which shielded it from wildfires. Indigenous people used the woods as a maple sugar camp for generations and called it “Sin Qua Sip,” meaning “sugar grove.”
Some of the county’s oldest forest: The land has never been farmed, and its mature oak, maple, and ash trees still have the same structure they did hundreds of years ago. The parcel also includes intact wetlands and the short-lived spring wildflowers that bloom on the forest floor before the trees leaf out.
Some work still required: The Aurora Sportsmen’s Club used the property for decades before it went into private ownership in 2020. Two small areas have lead contamination from the gun club days and will stay fenced off until cleanup funding comes through, likely from environmental grants. The rest will be open to the public.
The district has been protecting pieces of the grove since 1928, but this southern core was the missing piece. A little more than half of the original grove survives today.
The district is now able to both protect the trees and remediate the land.
“Most other buyers would need an economic return to fund remediation and would have removed the trees,” said Benjamin Haberthur, executive director of the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. “These trees at Bliss Woods were under threat. Without the public’s support for the Forest Preserve District, they would have been lost.”
Information provided by the Forest Preserve District of Kane County.
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