With three distinctive courses to choose from and two pre-season incentives, WCFPD has the best golf values in the Rock River Valley. Until April 1, Premier Cards and Player Cards are for sale at discount prices. And with every purchase of Premier and Player Cards you will receive a gift card redeemable for greens fees or golf car rental at all three courses: The Ledges, Atwood Homestead and Macktown. Don’t delay! Take advantage of these early-bird bargains and enjoy a full season of enjoyable, challenging golf at great prices.

For more information call Winnebago County Forest Preserve District at 815/877-6100 or visit www.wcfpd.org

The Winnebago County Forest Preserve District will start taking shelterhouse reservations on Monday, February 1, 2010.
Call 815-877-6100 to reserve a shelterhouse.

Golf Gift Certificates on Sale for Holidays!

For holiday gift giving, the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District is offering gift certificates good for daily fees or season passes at all three of its 18-hole championship golf courses: Atwood Homestead, The Ledges, and Macktown. Gift certificates are available for any dollar amount, with a $10 minimum. Purchases can be made between 8 AM and 5 PM, Monday through Friday at Winnebago County Forest Preserve District Headquarters at 5500 Northrock Drive, Rockford, Illinois 61103. Closed Thursday and Friday December 24 & 25, 2009.

Atwood Homestead Golf Course will close for the winter beginning Monday, November 23, 2009. Macktown Golf Course will remain open for play, weather permitting, until further notice.

Fall Golf Specials
$10 18-hole greens fee
$5 9-hole greens fee
$10 18-hole golf car rental (shared rate per person)
$5 9-hole golf car rental (shared rate per person)

Winnebago County Forest Preserve District is again offering a Junior Golf Program at Atwood Homestead Golf Course for summer 2010.

Click on the application below.

2010 Junior Golf Program Application

District campgrounds plan to be closed for season on Thursday, November 19, 2009

District campgrounds opened Wednesday, April 15, 2009.

The Forest Preserve District is doing some landscape restoration work at Sugar River Alder Forest Preserve. Please be patient as some hiking trails will be closed during the work. Estimated completion date is the first week of November. The reasons for the restoration are as follows:

• Removing pine plantations in order to restore to native habitat.
• Removing non-native species such as Scotch pine, European buckthorn, bush honeysuckle, mulberry, and Siberian elm.
• Areas will be restored into appropriate habitat types such as dry prairie and dry savanna.
• Desirable tree species will be left. These species include bur oak, red oak, black oak, and shagbark hickory.

20% savings on golf gift cards:
Available in $25 value for $20
$50 value for $40
$100 value for $80
Redeemable for green fees and golf car rental.
Gift cards available at Winnebago County Forest Preserve District Headquarters, 5500 Northrock Drive, Rockford, IL 61103.

Please call 815-877-6100 for more information.

Governor Quinn Signs Bill Enabling Separate Board for Winnebago County Forest Preserve District

On Tuesday, August 11, Governor Patrick Quinn signed the bill that will allow the Winnebago County Forest Preserve district to elect its own governing board. The legislative act takes effect immediately. The election of an independent nonpartisan board consisting of seven Commissioners will take place in November 2010. The new governance board will replace the current 28 member Board of Commissioners who serve dually as county board members.

The legislation allowing Winnebago County Forest Preserve District to elect its own separate board was initiated by an advisory referendum in November, 2008 which passed with a 69% approval rate. The bill was then proposed in the Illinois House of Representatives last winter where it passed with only one opposing vote, and then proceeded to the Illinois senate where it passed unanimously.

The governance structure change will not create a new unit of government or new taxing entity. The Forest Preserve District is already a separate agency and levies its own tax. Nomination packets and petitions for individuals interested in running for the Forest Preserve District board will be available in January 2010.

Clearing and Reforestation at Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve

The Winnebago County Forest Preserve District will be contracting with Homer Tree Service this winter to begin a landscape restoration and reforestation of 40-plus acres in the northeast section of Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve. Blackhawk Springs became a forest preserve in 1978. At the time, the prevailing management was to let “nature take its course.” The farm fields were overtaken with invasive box elders. These “weedy” trees inhibit the growth of other native trees and plants which birds and animals depend upon for survival. Since 1978, landscape management science has improved and it is now the practice to actively manage a landscape restoration for habitat quality. The District with the help of Homer Tree Service, therefore, will remove 40 acres of box elders and begin replanting with native trees.
In spring, District staff will begin replanting with native trees to recreate an oak savanna, a form of prairie that was once a common Illinois landscape. It’s very import for forest preserve visitors and the public to understand the benefits of clearing the weedy trees such as box elders. To restore an oak savanna, most of the trees must be removed and the native prairie grasses and flowers replanted to begin a years-long healing process. Some trees, like box elder and buckthorn, are invasive and can quickly force out native plants if they are not controlled with fire or saw.
The Forest Preserve District will post signs around the restoration areas explaining to observers that the tree removal is part of a long-term plan to restore an original landscape. Recreating oak savanna will make Blackhawk Springs a more interesting and biologically richer place than it currently is. It is going to be a very positive step in enhancing the ecological health of this preserve and the surrounding area. The preserve will remain open for normal activities throughout the habitat improvement project.