52 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



The Okefinokee Society has secured action in the Geor- 

 gia legislature which memorialized Congress to make a 

 national park of Okefinokee Swamp. At the last meeting 

 of the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science both of these societies presented resolutions 

 which were passed by several biological societies inter- 

 ested in these projects, asking the Council of the Ameri- 

 can Association to recommend the two preservation pro- 

 jects to the federal government officials. At the present 

 time the National Eesearch Council is in close touch with 

 the federal government and in a position to get in touch 

 with Congress. It is an additional body to w^hich appeal 

 may be made. 



Preservation of areas by the state requires similar 

 effort; similar general methods may be followed. But 

 methods may be more direct as it is easier to reach state 

 officials directly than the national officials and it is 

 the states that have been especially interested in game 

 sanctuaries and in some cases in bird preserves. Thus 

 the people interested in preservation of natural condi- 

 tions for purposes of study should undertake to get 

 their project before the fish and game officials and the 

 bird societies of the state. 



Many states have state foresters who usually are inter- 

 ested in reserve projects and who often would be able 

 to combine their sample plots with the proposed pro- 

 ject for the preservation of natural conditions. In the 

 state of Illinois, for example, a law in force for some 

 years renders possible the formation of county forest 

 preserves in counties with municipalities. The signatures 

 of a body of citizens and the ruling of the county court 

 favorable to the project following a hearing for objec- 

 tions, can automatically condemn a selected tract of 

 woodland as a forest preserve, and bond the county to 

 purchase the same to be paid for from a county mill tax 

 provided for in the law. This method is probably not 

 particularly valuable except near the large centers of 

 population where the securing of the signatures is com- 

 paratively easy and preserves more appreciated than in 

 the small communities. 



