ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 



15 



Photo Madsen Bros. 



The Palisades of the Mississippi at Savanna 



To the people of Savanna and vicinity has come the idea of conserving 

 the beautiful natural setting in which they live and of safeguarding 

 jealously for all time to come their magnificent river front which curves 

 along wooded flood plains and past palisaded heights that look far out over 

 the broad island-dotted expanse of the Mississippi River. A great state 

 park should be created here to include two miles or more of palisades along 

 the river and four or five miles of frontage along the flood plains. This 

 should include fine wooded ravines back of the palisades, some of them 

 almost untouched as yet. a few extending back to the old Indian trail which 

 follows the windings of the Mississippi. Several thousand acres should be 

 brought into this preserve including the many picturesque islands in the 

 river within sight of the palisades. These islands would prove wonderful 

 bird refuges. As the Iowa line comes near the Illinois shore, and most of 

 the islands belong to Iowa, a preserve of this sort will require the joint 

 action of both states. 



A local committee to prepare plans for such a park and to arouse state- 

 wide interest in it has been formed with F. J. Stransky, Colin Higgins, F. 

 S. Greenleaf, C. K. Miles, and C. H. LeVitt as members. Cooperating 

 with it is Jens Jensen of Chicago, President of The Friends of Our Native 

 Landscape, who voices the enthusiastic interest of that organization in the 

 project. It is the good fortune of the school children of Savanna to have 

 teachers that direct their attention to the beauty of their immediate sur- 

 roundings. The following illustrated paragraphs representing the work of 

 some of the children were kindly furnished by Superintendent C. H. 

 LeVitt. 



