Allow dogs in Independence Grove's core recreation area? Forest preserve board still says no

No dogs allowed will remain the policy in the core recreational areas of Lake County's most popular forest preserve.

Forest preserve board members rejected a request from a small number of nearby residents that they reconsider the ban at Independence Grove Forest Preserve near Libertyville, even for a limited test period.

"We're just looking to walk our dogs on leashes and not get in anybody's way a couple of hours a week," Libertyville resident Kate Wagner told the forest board's operations committee Monday.

Members of the committee, which can recommend policy changes to the full board, determined that modifying the ban would unnecessarily create more issues than it was worth and incur costs for changing signs and installing dog waste bag dispensers.

Forest district Chief Operations Officer Mike Tully said leashed dogs are welcome at nearly all forest preserves, but there are several reasons the ban in the core recreational areas at Independence Grove was suggested before it opened in 2001.

Among them, unattended dog waste could be an irritant or even a danger to large crowds of picnickers, hikers, cyclists and children using the preserve, as well to those attending special events.

Besides its golf courses, Independence Grove is the only recreation area in the district that sells food outside. Mixing large crowds, food and dogs was a concern, according to Tully.

The ban also makes the visitor center and other key areas of the preserve more attractive for weddings, corporate meetings and other special occasion rentals, Tully said.

Independence Grove is unlike any other forest preserve in that it has acres of irrigated turf and formalized landscapes, which could be affected if dogs were allowed, he added.

With a beach, bay, trail system and other amenities, Independence Grove is the most popular preserve in the nearly 31,000-acre system, drawing more visitors than all the others combined.

"I've had dogs, grew up with dogs and like dogs, but staff has articulated very well why we shouldn't" reverse the ban, said Commissioner Ann Maine. "It can't be just for the few."

She said many people are uncomfortable with dogs and there are places nearby and elsewhere in the forest preserve system to bring dogs.

Lake County Board Chairwoman Sandy Hart, who attended the meeting, said Independence Grove was more like a park than a forest preserve and thought there was "room to give it a try."

But "taking things away is very difficult once we put something in place," Maine responded.

Dogs are allowed at Independence Grove outside the recreational core, which includes paved and gravel trails, picnic groves, the North Bay Pavilion, a native garden and Millennium Plaza.

"We knew it would be a longshot, but we wanted to raise the awareness," Libertyville resident Tony Castellano said after the meeting.

Leashed dogs also are allowed on the Des Plaines River Trail, which runs through the entire preserve from Route 120 to Route 137, as well as at the Independence Grove Dog Exercise Area on Route 21, although a permit is required.