38 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



II. SOME REASONS FOR PRESERVING NATURAL AREAS 

 GENERAL REASONS 



*'To realize tlie" greatest profit, therefore, from the plant 

 and animal life of the national parks, their original bal- 

 ance should be maintained. Park areas should be con- 

 served unmodified in the interest of research and natural 

 Jiistory. For, as the settlement of the country progres- 

 ses, and the original aspect of nature is altered, the parks 

 will probably be the only areas unspoiled for scientific 

 studj^, and this is of the more significance when we con- 

 sider how far the scientific methods of investigating na- 

 ture then obtaining will be in advance of those now ap- 

 plied to the same study." — J. Grinnell. 



Among the recreative elements in nature the following 

 are important: ''First: either perfect quiet, or an ab- 

 sence of all save primitive and natural sounds, such as 

 those caused by the wind in the trees, by running or fall- 

 ing water, or by singing birds. Second : landscapes that 

 relieve the e^^es from close work by offering distant 

 views, quiet harmonies of color, and a quiescent atmos- 

 phere, varied by occasional touches of movement in such 

 objects as running or falling water, scurrying squirrels, 

 or birds in flight. Third : accessible mountains, which en- 

 courage climbing and allow the visitor to combine the ex- 

 hilaration of overcoming obstacles with the physical ex- 

 ercise attending the woodsman's mode of travel. Fourth: 

 natural phenomena that make a purely intellectual or 

 esthetic appeal, as do the conflicts between the great in- 

 sentient forces of nature, the processes of geological up- 

 building and destruction, the intimate inter-relations of 

 plants and animals, and the contentions for mastery that 

 are forever recurring throughout the whole realm of liv- 

 ing things. We believe the last, the mental appeal, to be 

 the element of greatest recreative value in nature, but 

 the other three are of only slightly less importance." — 

 J. Grinnell and T. I. Storer. 



importance of early ACTION 



"After civilization has developed in any area, every 

 one realizes the desirability of parks and reservations 



