OAKWOOD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Illinois Sierra Club and other area groups are looking to protect a portion of the Kickapoo State Recreation Area.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is looking into putting in a mountain bike path. The path would be put into a 400-acre area of old ravines and forests. Sierra Club Member Clark Bullard said their goal is to protect the landscape that has been untouched for at least 50 years.

“We think there’s room for everybody for very intensive forms of regular recreation — like mountain biking — and the quieter, more passive forms of recreation of ambling through a beautiful woodland when the leaves are turning and everything,” he said. “So, we think the DNR can do its job and find a balance.”

Bullard said the groups are not opposed to the idea of adding the new trail. The organizations hope they can come up with a different location.