on consecutive days three lists of the plants in Trout 
Park and neighboring areas. 
On March 29, Benke (1932) wrote: ‘‘While owned 
by the City of Elgin, the park tract is under the cus- 
tody of those who so earnestly labored for its acqui- 
sition -- the nature societies of Elgin, foremost among 
which are the Illinois Nature Study, and the Elgin 
Audubon Societies. These establish the rules for the 
park’s supervision which are in turn executed by the 
city. This admirable arrangement guarantees the 
tract’s preservation with nature supreme and artifici- 
alities restricted to the minimum.”’ 
Unfortunately, preservation of the tract was not 
guaranteed. The Illinois Toll Road, Interstate 90, 
now passes through what was the largest and biologi- 
cally richest ravine in Trout Park. The right-of-way 
is about 450 feet in width and stretches in the park 
from the base of the bluff to the summit. The exper- 
ience of Elgin proves that individuals, organizations, 
and local governments must be on the alert if they 
are to prevent the destruction of irreplaceable natural 
areas by “‘artificialities’’ that could be located else- 
where. 
Presently Trout Park is owned by the City of 
Elgin. 
6. CLARK RUN 
Clark Run is a small stream, about 7 miles in 
length, northeast of Utica, La Salle County. The 
stream originates in section 3], T. 34 N., R. 3 E., 
and empties into the Illinois River near Utica. The 
area of botanical importance lies in the extreme north 
Fig. 10.-- A path on the bluffs at Trout Park, north of Elgin, Kane County. The path leads the visitor past large arbor 
vitae trees, some of which are visible in the photograph. 
10 
