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Bolgers Donate 70 Acre Farmland Easement First of Its Kind for McHenry County

In 1863, Thomas Bolger purchased some farmland along the Fox River south of the small village of McHenry, Illinois. He passed the land on to his son Walter who continued to farm it, and who acquired additional farmland along the way. During the Depression, from 1938-1939, the Civilian Conservation Corps was enlisted to build a dam south of McHenry. At that time, approximately 58-acres of the Bolger land along the Fox River was acquired in connection with the dam project.

In 1954, Thomas Bolger’s great-grandson Walter purchased the remaining Bolger farm from his siblings, and has continued the family legacy to this day by farming the land for hay, corn and beans; by raising cattle; and milking dairy cows. Today, the farm totals approximately 80 acres on either side of Barreville Road south of the City of McHenry.

However, unlike many farms in the area, the Bolger Farm will not be sold for development. In 2006, Walter Bolger and his wife Madeline placed a permanent conservation easement on about 70 acres of the farmland in order to ensure that it will continue to be farmed even when they no longer own the land.

This agricultural preservation easement is the first of its kind in McHenry County. Farmers and ranchers across the United States have donated (or in some cases, sold) farmland preservation easements to land conservancies or local governments for decades. The Bolgers are the first McHenry County farm family to do so.

In addition to securing the prime soils of the land for continued agricultural production in perpetuity, the property also provides an important buffer between City of McHenry development to the north and west, and the County’s Stickney Run Conservation Area to the south and the State’s Moraine Hills State Park (site of the Thomas Bolger lock & dam) to the east. The Bolger Farm has also been identified as a potential nesting site for the state threatened Blandings turtle which is found at Stickney Run.

The Bolgers are two of the most generous people I have met. The land, and its continued use for farming, is so important to them, that they were willing to be the first McHenry County farm family to place a permanent conservation easement on their land. They hope that they will not be the last.