 Not only was Grover Island the nation's first national forest preserve, it was probably the very first land set aside by the federal government for any conservation purpose, being established well before any of our national parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges, or national forests.Grover Island could rightfully be termed the nation's first national forest, as the preserve was in existence more than ninety years before the creation of any of the forest preserves that we currently call "national forest".In 1926, no longer needed for its live oak in an age of steel, Grover Island was sold into private hands.