LAKE COUNTY, Ill. - On April 20, the Lake County Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners created a new 391-acre forest preserve in western Lake County on the Fremont Township, bringing the total number of acres protected by the Lake County Forest Preserve to 22,769, according to a recent press release.

The board also awarded five contracts totalling over $3.1 million for work scheduled to begin this spring on the Des Plaines River Trail, Millennium Trail, Middlefork Savanna, Fort Sheridan and Bonner Farm.

Kovilic Construction Company of Franklin Park, Ill., won the contract for a new 4-mile section of the Des Plaines River Trail; D.L. Franzen Construction of McHenry, Ill., won the contract for a new 35-mile Millennium Trail and Greenway; Land and Lakes Company of Park Ridge, Ill., won the contract for a new 4.5-mile trail with bridges and boardwalks at Middlefork Savanna; Cornish, Silva and Mungeam of Uxbridge, Mass., won the contract for golf course architectural services at Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve and Golf Club, where they will rebuild and redesign the preserve's 18-hold golf course; and Carow Architects and Planners of Chicago won the contract for work on the Forest Preserves' Bonner Farm, including preserving existing barns and outbuildings, creating outdoor exhibits and a parking area.