ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 29 



construction. When completed it will be 16 miles long. On the map 

 before referred to the shading along this canal is the same as that used 

 to designate areas within the Forest Preserve District, but the area so 

 marked is the property of the Sanitary District. The right of way 

 along this particular channel is in places nearly half a mile wide and 

 contains many interesting natural features. The letter sent out by Mr. 

 Schantz to Mr. Sergei, President of the Board of Trustees, follows: 



Mr. Charles H. Sergei, 



President of the Sanitary District of Chicago, 

 The Karpen Building, Chicago. 



Dear Sir: I am addressing you in behalf of the Directors and members of 

 the Illinois Audubon Society and with reference to the conservation of wild life 

 within the territory under the control of the Trustees of the Sanitary District of 

 Chicago. 



The Illinois Audubon Society, as you probably know, has been actively engaged 

 for twenty years in the effort to interest the public in the conservation of our 

 native song birds and other birds of economic importance. The Society has 

 been quick to recognize the significance of parks and of protected woodlands and 

 meadows as affording shelter and inviting nesting sites for birds, and its officers 

 and members have been active in the work of incorporating such areas wherever 

 opportunity offered. It has regarded with great enthusiasm the rapid growth 

 of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and anticipates for the near 

 future a very appreciable increase in bird life in the Chicago area because of the 

 protected watercourses and long stretches of woodland already included within 

 the boundaries of the District and because of the artificial lakes now being 

 created in favorable locations in the District. 



In view of the fact that the Sanitary District of Chicago controls land, both 

 wooded and prairie, in direct connection with or adjacent to certain portions of 

 the Forest Preserve District, it occurs to the members of the Illinois Audubon 

 Society to call your attention to the opportunity your Honorable Body has to 

 co-operate with the Forest Preserve District by extending over the waterways 

 and adjacent areas of the Sanitary District the same rigid restrictions as to 

 hunting that prevail in the Forest Preserve District. It is a matter of common 

 knowledge that on holidays and Sundays throughout the year great numbers of 

 men and boys, with and without dogs, go out from Chicago in every direction 

 to shoot anything they may find. Wherever there are areas in which the officials 

 are not especially concerned the laws relating to bird protection are flagrantly 

 violated. This irresponsible army deploys along the North Shore Channel of 

 the Sanitary District to the annoyance and even apprehension of people living 

 near that channel. This same condition of affairs occurs along the other stretches 

 of waterway in the District and especially along the Sag and Calumet channels 

 where the forest and marsh land included in the wider area there under the Dis- 

 trict's control increases the opportunity for hunting game birds in season and 

 out of season. The fact that hunters resort so persistently to these areas estab- 

 lishes the existence of valuable bird life there and it is beyond question that the 

 number and variety of birds there would greatly increase if molestation by 

 hunters were to cease. 



The trustees of the Sanitary District do not need to be reminded of the eco- 

 nomic importance of bird life nor of the great service it renders in helping to 

 protect from the ravages of insects the native woodland and the meadows and 

 cultivated fields as well. The members of the Illinois Audubon Society believe 

 that it is within the power of you and your colleagues of the Sanitary District 

 Board to enforce thoroughly a rule prohibiting hunting or the bearing of firearms 

 upon the territory within your control. We believe that in so doing you would 

 perform a great public service and that your action would meet with the peculiar 

 approval of the taxpayers of the District. Accordingly we respectfully petition 

 that at the earliest opportunity your Honorable Board pass suitable rules and 

 regulations and take such other action as is necessary to make safe for bird life 

 the areas of the drainage channels throughout their entire extent. 



Respectfully submitted for and in behalf of the Illinois Audubon Society, 



Orpheus M. Schantz, President. 



