vie Ue UD UR eOeN® BU ener N 15 
The “Save the Dunes” Meeting 
By Fuoyp A. SwINK 
ON SUNDAY, JULY 23, 1961, at 1:00 p.m., over 2,000 persons gathered at 
the main entrance gate of Indiana Dunes State Park to protest destruction 
of the remaining dunes by proposed harbors and industries. Hundreds of 
people carried posters stating “Save the Dunes.” There were also a number 
of placards carried by citizens of Porter Beach protesting the inclusion of 
their area in a proposed National Park. The meeting was organized by the 
Save the Dunes Council of Chesterton, Indiana. 
Among those present were Senator Douglas of Illinois; Senator Bible of 
Nevada (Chairman of the Public Land Committee of the U.S. Senate) ; 
Mayor Daley of Chicago; the mayors of Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, 
and Whiting; Conrad Wirth (Director of the National Park Service) ; and 
Secretary of Interior Udall. A huge caravan proceeded to the wilderness 
area north and west of Baileytown. Only vehicles with four-wheel drive 
were able to negotiate the high dunes between the road and Lake Michigan. 
However, a number of photographrs and others made the trip. Many 
traveled in special vehicles provided by the city of Gary. 
Our purpose was to show Secretary Udall and his party from Washing- 
ton, D.C., the real wilderness character of the dunes and its 75 remaining 
marshes. We climbed to the top of the highest dune in Indiana, and the 
Secretary was duly impressed. He mentioned that he liked the Indiana 
Dunes better than either Point Reyes or Cape Cod, both of which he had 
recently visited in his line of duty. He was quite interested in the plant 
life — how the grasses stabilized the dunes; the fundamentals of plant 
succession on the dunes; and the brilliance of the wildflowers, such as but- 
terfly weed. A number of the plants were familiar to him — such as 
fragrant sumac and bearberry — because they are also found in the West. 
Since I had spent some time in the Secretary’s home town of Tucson, Ari- 
zona, in April, on a biological field trip, we found a common bond of in- 
terest. 
All organizations are urged to submit resolutions supporting Senator 
Douglas’ bill to make the Indiana Dunes area a National Park. We think 
we achieved our objective in convincing these important gentlemen that the 
dunes are still very much a unique wilderness. Perhaps the high point of 
the afternoon came when Secretary Udall, looking backward at us from the 
jeep that was taking him to the airport for return to Washington, held his 
arm high and shouted to the crowd, ‘‘Save the Dunes!” 
The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois 
Ed. Note: Following the tour of the dunes described above, an evening mass meeting 
was held in Miller, Indiana, with over 400 persons attending, including Senator Douglas, 
the mayors of Gary and East Chicago, and other officials. The charge was made that 
the Burns Ditch Harbor Project is a conspiracy to use millions of the taxpayer's money 
for the benefit of two steel companies and a few real estate promoters. Senator Douglas 
answered the objections of persons who hold private property in the proposed Indiana 
Dunes National Park area that their rights and privileges would be respected as in all 
other National Parks. Resistance to establishment of a park has always come from in- 
holders, Sen. Douglas observed, but these persons have never been able to prevent 
the creation of great National Parks for the benefit of millions of people. 
