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ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY MANUAL 4 



soil in place and support game besides. What multiple rewards 

 for small corrections! 



Too much wildlife cover and too much wildlife have been 

 destroyed by careless use of herbicides and insecticides; proper 

 use of these materials requires experience, planning, and expert 

 supervision. 



Some corrections in the conservation situation have been 

 made; they are bright pilots for the future. About a quarter 

 centurv ago. a national forest was established in southern Illi- 

 nois. In many parts of Illinois, state parks and county forests 

 have been established. In heavily populated Cook County, a 

 large forest preserve has for many years given reasonable op- 

 portunity for people to enjoy a soothing day in prairie and wood- 

 land areas. There are now in Illinois about 55 square miles of 

 land in 64 state-owned parks and conservation areas, all of which 

 serve as habitats for many species of wildlife. Railroad and high- 

 way rights-of-way harbor more species, usually the kinds that re- 

 quire grass or forb-covered habitats. These areas can be altered 

 to harbor many more kinds of wildlife. In southern Illinois 

 much of the land which was despoiled by ruinous farming is so 

 poor that now, ironically, it is allowed, even helped, to produce 

 timber without interference by grazing. 



Mammalian populations renew themselves in such favorable 

 centers and extend their ranges as more habitats become avail- 

 able. Within the past half century we have seen beavers and 

 white-tailed deer restored in considerable numbers to Illinois, 

 and furbearing mammals, with the possible exception of musk- 

 rats, are now more numerous in the state than they were 25 

 years ago. This favorable trend only indicates the possibility 

 for the future. We can have more productive land and more 

 wildlife. But there still is a long way to go. 



