Change at the top of Will County Forest Preserve District

A planned change in leadership at the Forest Preserve District of Will County takes place Friday when Executive Director Ralph Schultz retires.

Deputy Director Tracy Chapman will become the new executive director.

The Forest Preserve District board in March approved the promotion of Chapman to the top spot with Schultz’s retirement planned for May.

Schultz leaves after a 32-year career with the Forest Preserve District of Will County.

He arrived in in 1993 as a landscape architect and later served as director of planning and operations and then as chief operating officer, according to a news release from the forest preserve district.

The district expanded its land holdings by more than 50% and restored thousands of acres of habitat during Schultz’s years with the district, according to the release.

Schultz oversaw the creation and extension of the DuPage River Trail, Joliet Junction Trail, Old Plank Road Trail, Veterans Memorial Trail and Wauponsee Glacial Trail.

“My desire was to build spaces and trail systems that connected people to nature and to each other,” Schultz said in the release. “I wanted to help build greenway systems that would have both ecological and recreational value and truly contribute to the quality of life in our communities.”

Chapman has been with the district for more than 20 years, starting as a police officer in 2004 and becoming chief of the forest preserve district police force in 2016.

She has been deputy director since 2021.