ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 5 



"We favor the establishment by the state of recreation grounds 

 which shall be open to the public for either hunting, fishing, 

 camping, or other outdoor life sports, under proper supervision. 



"We pledge our support to the Illinois History Survey and 

 State Forester in their work for the conservation of what is left 

 of our natural forests, and ask the Fifty Second General As- 

 sembly to provide the funds necessary for a complete survey of 

 the state. 



"We most heartily endorse the plans made for establishing 

 state parks in Illinois as outlined and agreed upon at a conference 

 held in Chicago, all of which has the approval of our Natural 

 History Survey and State Forester. 



"We stand for a system of game refuges and resting places for 

 waterfowl, also for the establishment of public shooting grounds, 

 following the Pennsylvania plan as far as possible. 



"We ask for an amendment to the present laws which will give 

 the state additional powers in dealing with the pollution of the 

 rivers, streams and other bodies of water in our state, causing 

 the destruction of our fish. 



"We believe that wild life conservation should be taught in the 

 public schools of our state and urge the Department of Registra- 

 tion and Education, and the State Superintendent of Public In- 

 struction of Illinois to make provision for such instruction. 



"We consider roving dogs and cats one of the greatest exist- 

 ing menaces to our wild game animals and birds, therefore we 

 favor the enactment of a law regulating the same." 



The Sportsmen's League had the friendly interest of a num- 

 ber of the legislators and it had some strong talking points in 

 support of certain portions of its program. There was, for ex- 

 ample, the report of Warden Bradford of the Department of 

 Game and Fish. This showed that the receipts of the Division 

 for the year ending June 30, 1920, exceeded the expenditures by 

 $49,486.00. This means that for the payment of salaries and 

 other expenses of the Division not one cent of money obtained 

 by general taxation is used, and that the Division is actually an 

 appreciable source of revenue for the state. In view of this fact 

 the League petitioned the legislature to authorize the use of this 

 excess revenue for the purchase of suitable lands and waters for 

 wild fowl refuges and for the propagation of fish. 



The justice and wisdom of this plan are apparent. Only citi- 

 zens who wish to hunt and fish are taxed to support the Division 

 and it is unfair to them to divert any of the revenue from any 

 other use than that of contributing directly to the hunting and 

 fishing resources of the state. The wisdom of preserving natural 

 areas for the purposes set forth is nowhere questioned. 



Well, the best the League could get from the Legislature was 

 a "resolution." Senator J. G. Bardill of Highland and Represent- 

 ative Frank Abbey of Biggsville, who sponsored the measures 



