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- 8 - I.A.S. Newsletter, October 1967 
FROM AUDUBON LEADER'S CONSERVATION GUIDE 
Walking Is Most Popular Outdoor Sport 
For conservationists who have long been urging America not 
to squander its remaining quiet countrysides and clean waters and the 
natural beauty of its landscapes, welcome statistics come from a 
new survey by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreatio. Scores of millions of 
Americans enjoy such green space sports as hiking, camping, picnicking 
and nature walks, andthe trend is accelerating. Public participation 
in outdoor recreation has jumped 51 per cent since 1960, according to 
the survey. Walking for pleasure has moved to the top spot in 
popularity today, 
A Conservation Bill of Rights has been proposed for New York 
State's new constitution, In essence, the proposed article for the 
State Constitution would declare conservation and the wise use of 
natural resources "to be the policies of the state," and would put a 
check on the unleashed use of Eminent Domain, It would insure, for 
example, that before lands might be taken for a new highway "all persons 
affected, including the commissioner of conservation" would have an 
opportunity to be heard, and wuld require that conservation factors to 
be given full consideration in deciding the public interest in any such 
land taking, 
The Federal Air Quality Act of 1967 (S.780) was unanimously approved 
by the Senate July 18 and now goes to the House, The strongest point 
of the bill is that it grants the Secretary of Health, Education, and 
Welfare the power to obtain a federal injunction to shut any source of 
air pollution which he finds dangerous to human health; the source 
could be an incinerator or all the cars in a city. 
Wildlife Damage Control Policy 
An admirable new policy statement for what was once called "predator 
control" has been announced by the U.S. Dept. of Interior. The 
statement clearly renounces the bounty system; states that wild animals 
cannot be classified as "injurious" or "beneficial" except in terms of 
particular time and place, and promises that any control measures used 
will be selective, suppressing only specific animal populations where 
human health, safety or economic interests are endangered, 
Ivory—billed Woodpeckers 
The man who has confirmed that the Ivory—billed Woodpecker is not 
extinct is John V, Dennis, who, working umer contract for the Bureau 
of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife, found several pairs in eastern Texas, 
A full account of this discovery has been written for the Nov-Dec. issue 
of Audubon magazine. 
- Abstracted by Preston Davies, 
Vice-President, Education, 
Kx we KR 3 3 
PLEASE NOTE: If any member sees a news release from I.A.S,. 
or a letter to an Editor in a newspaper written 
by one of the I.A.S. officers or conmmitteemen, 
please mail it to Dllinois Audubon Society, 
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 
Illinois 60605. 
Sea Se ae! CEP ee 


