The Springfield League of Women Voters began a campaign for a forest preserve in Sangamon County in April 1960. The Citizens Committee for a Sangamon County Forest Preserve District worked to put the issue on the ballot in November 1962. It was voted down. In September 1963, the members of the Sangamon Conservation Council voted to incorporate and draw up new bylaws. The group was “dedicated to the purpose of promoting the public acquisition, preservation, and development of natural areas.” The Sangamon Conservation Council worked on the creation of a county conservation district and circulated a petition to get it on the ballot in March 1974. It would be a taxing district to acquire land to preserve it or develop it for recreational purposes. Voters rejected the proposal. The Sangamon Conservation Council was terminated by its board in 1979.
The collection includes meeting minutes for the Citizens Committee for a Forest Preserve District and information on their campaign, Sangamon Conservation Council organizational materials, meeting minutes, correspondence and newspaper articles, and the effort to create a Sangamon County Conservation District.