Few people in Kane County outside of their families, friends and neighbors are likely to know Suzanne and Ray Massion by name. But that relative anonymity doesn't mean they and others like them won't have a great deal of influence over the county's future

The Massions own what they describe as 7 acres of “pure paradise” in Hampshire, replete with deer, coyotes, hawks and fox. Exactly the sort of place that is harder and harder to find in Hampshire and Kane County as concrete buries acre after acre of green

The Massions have, with help from the Fox Valley Land Foundation, ensured it will stay that way. Forever.

In exchange for some tax breaks, they have donated a conservation easement on their property to the land trust. They can still sell the property, but the easement remains, guaranteeing the land cannot be developed for “forever and a day.”

They are part of a growing movement that now includes 1,200 grass-roots land trusts nationwide, among them the Fox Valley Land Foundation, which operates exclusively in Kane County, and the Land Conservancy, which operates in McHenry County.

Such groups are made up of individuals who believe preservation and open space protection ought not be the province only of government or big environmental groups. Given the national debates over oil drilling and clear-cutting and the administration's support for such moves, it is not hard to imagine their lack of faith in government

And while the Kane County Forest Preserve District, McHenry County Conservation District, and residents of Kane and McHenry counties have long supported open space preservation, they are limited by finances. With land prices rising higher every day, every day their cash buys less. And every day, more concrete covers the land.

The same is true of Elgin, which has just hired a consultant to help it protect open space and develop adequate park systems as it grows west. A good enough idea and an indication of concern that is properly placed, but the finest plan in the world means little if there is no money to implement it through acquisition

.So now, when growth is an unending pressure, when most governments have debts, not money to buy land, and the average taxpayer is feeling more than a little hard-pressed, the land trusts are more important than ever.

People like the Massions, willing to forgo the big money developers wave in their faces, will be preserving the outdoor pleasures they call “Disney moments” for themselves. But they will be saving them for the rest of the county as well

“This is about long-term gratification,” said Suzanne Massion. “Not instant anything.”Something this society isn't good at. But luckily for everybody, people who appreciate such moments are also the most likely to consider the trust and take the steps necessary to save critical open areas from becoming “Anytown USA.”Which, of course, already can be found along Randall Road.