\lo I . 9 , No. 4 
Page 5 
Of the 237 acres acquired by the Prairie Chicken Foundation of Illinois, 87 
acres of established nesting cover are playing a key role in maintaining the Bogota 
population. During the 1 966 booming season, 15 individual hens were seen by 
observers in blinds on each of two mornings on a booming ground on the JJ-acre 
Yeatter Sanctuary. On another occasion, I 7 individual hens were believed to have 
visited this booming ground. This is a greater number of hens on one booming 
ground than the sum of hens recorded on all booming grounds during any of the 
previous 3 years on the Bogota Study Area. Apparently, the stage is set for a high 
density of prairie chicken nests on the Yeatter Sanctuary in 1966. 
Since its formation in the fall of 1 96 5 the Prairie Grouse Committee, Illinois 
Chapter-The Nature Conservancy has acquired 197 acres of prairie farmland. Two 
tracts totaling 157 acres have been seeded to grass and it is hoped that the new 
40-acre tract will be seeded this spring; all three tracts should provide nesting 
cover by 1 967 - 
On private farmland, only 26 acres of good nesting cover were available for 
leasing by the Illinois Department of Conservation in 1 966 (Table 5)- In addition, 
about l 89 acres of poor quality nesting cover on private farmland are available 
to nesting prairie chickens; some of this acreage has also been leased. One 
encouraging fact is that three local farmers have recently seeded a total of about 
30 acres of redtop and 20 acres of timothy, which they plan to lease to the Depart¬ 
ment of Conservation when the nesting cover is established. 
A total of about 700 acres of nesting cover should be available to the Bogota 
chickens by 1 968 . Also by that time, it is hoped that a management program is 
well under way toward saving a flock in at least one other area. The flock near 
Farina, which overlaps into Marion, Fayette, and Effingham counties, appears to 
offer the second-best chance for success. 
Table 5- Status of the prairie chicken refuge system and of nesting cover in 
local ownership on the Bogota Area, April 20, I 966 . Dates in parentheses indicate 
year when acreage should provide nesting cover. 
Ownership 
Number of Acres 
Established 
Nesting Cover 
(1966) 
Newl y 
Seeded 
(1967) 
To Be 
Seeded 
(1968) 
Tota 1 s 
PCF1 
87 
60 
90 
237 
PGC + 
0 
157 
40 
197 
Local Farmers 
Good nesting cover 
26 * 
50 
76 
Poor nesting cover 
189* 
189 
Tota1s 
302 
267 
l 30 
699 
* Prairie Chicken Foundation of Illinois. 
t Prairie Grouse Committee, Illinois Chapter-The Nature Conservancy. 
$ All or in part leased by the Illinois Department of Conservation. 
