
ARMY ENGINEERS’ DREDGING PLANS THREATEN KEOKUK POOL ECOSYSTEM 


Keokuk Pool is located above Lock and Dam Number 19 between Fort Madison and Keokuk, lowa. According to 
the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, it is one of the most valuable feeding and concentration areas for diving 
ducks in the Mississippi Flyway. 


To facilitate development of a Fort Madison “‘industrial site’ 
industry, the Corps of Engineers plans to dredge a 9 foot channel to, along, and from the industrial front area. The 
Bureau of 5 port Fisheries and Wildlife asserts that such a harbor development would disrupt a fish and wildlife | 
habitat that has been forming for over 60 years. 

where the California Chemical Co. is now the major 





The major damaging factor would be increased turbidity, which in turn w 
eggs and fry. Turbidity and subsequent sedimentation could subse 
invertebrates vital to the food chains. 

ould disturb fish behavior, and destroy 
quently destroy aquatic vegetation and 




On October 30, in a driving rain, | took a quick look at the Keokuk Pool, and saw more ducks than | have ever 
seen at any one time before. Shouldn’t we Audubonites in adjacent states raise our voice to protect this ecosystem 
from what seems to be an ill-conceived plan for dredging? To this end, the North Central Audubon Council is 
establishing a KEOKUK POOL EMERGENCY CONSERVATION COMMITTEE. If you would like to be included, 
please write your regional representative. | shall be glad to hear from you. 







Edward Brigham, N. Midwest Rep. 
National Audubon Society 
Rte. 4, Red Wing, Minn. 55066 
SS eee 
ILLINOIS NEWSBRIEFS 










A flock of GIANT CANADA GEESE is being established on reclaimed strip mine lands between Canton and Cuba in 
Fulton Co. The Department of Conservation released 40 goslings in the area; they will be confined for two years and then 
liberated. The birds weigh from 13 to 17 pounds, but Conservation officials worry that hunters will mistake the giant 
birds for ordinary Canada geese. 
Conservationists are concerned over the proposed NEW AIRPORT in Lake Michigan may increase pollution and mar 
the magnificent lakefront. Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago and the Federal Aviation 
Agency favor construction of the 
new facility. 
Governor Ogilvie has released $2,452,620 to the Ilinois Department of Conservation for camping improvement in 18 
state parks. The Department recently raised overnight camping fees and is improving the facilities in many areas. 
The Nature Conservancy has recently acquired BABER WOODS in Edgar Co. The woodland was donated to the group 
by Mr. Adin Baber, whose family has owned the Property since 1854. The 59 acre oak-hickory woodland has not been 
disturbed in half a century. 
Sen. Charles Percy has called on members of the Illinois Constitutional Convention to restore to the people of Illinois 
“their right to survive... their right to a decent environment,” and asked that they affirm that right in an amendment to 
the Illinois constitution. (He ought to speak up to help save Allerton Park.) 
On April 22 an ENVIRONMENTAL TEACH-IN will be conducted on campuses throughout the nation. The objective 
is to mobilize American youth in an effort to halt pollution and destruction of the environment. 
The greatest amount of garbage appears in the CHICAGO RIVER on Monday morning, asserts Sanitary District Supt. 
Vinton Bacon. The debris is apparently pitched overboard by weekend boaters. 
William Rutherford has resigned as director of Illinois Dept. of Conservation to become Illinois Director of Environmental 
Quality Council by appointment of Gov. Ogilvie. 

