fee AUDUBON BULLETIN 
Published Quarterly by the 
mere Os ALU DSU BON. oS OG LET Y 
ROOSEVELT ROAD AND LAKE SHORE DRIVE, CHICAGO 5, ILL. 
Number 120 December, 1961 
New Threat to Illinois Beach State Park 
By DONALD VAN HORN 
THERE HAS BEEN considerable discussion during the past few months con- 
cerning a plan to give a portion of Iilinois Beach State Park to the city of 
Waukegan in order to build a golf course, swimming pool, and marina 
(yacht harbor). Opposition to this proposal has come from the Illinois Au- 
dubon Society and from the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society, a 
non-profit organization which has worked since 1950 to protect the unique 
scientific and aesthetic values of the park. It is the hope of the latter So- 
ciety to enlist state-wide aid in defeating the partition proposal. 
The area desired by Waukegan is a portion of the nature sanctuary which 
was set aside at the time of the establishment of the park to be preserved 
as the only remaining sizeable area of original wet sand prairie in Illinois. 
This prairie is irreplaceable if once destroyed. It is a living museum show- 
ing the natural ecology of the region. The nature area is the home of many 
species of flora and fauna that have been exterminated elsewhere, and it has 
been used extensively by universities, colleges, scientific, and lay groups for 
study and research. 
The general public is growing more and more aware of the need for ex- 
tension of national and local park systems. It is as logical and reasonable 
to protect the lands already dedicated as parks as it is ‘to establish new 
preserves. Illinois, with more than 10,000,000 inhabitants, has a serious 
shortage of state parks. Our 27,500 acres compare poorly with the 58,000 
acres of Missouri, the 126,000 acres of Connecticut, or the park systems of 
Indiana, Iowa, or Wisconsin. Any deletion of park land is certainly a step 
in the wrong direction. The authorities responsible for parks are subjected 
to continual pressure to permit the erosion of park lands for projects that 
have local and special interests. Yielding to these demands will establish 
precedents that can eventually nullify the objectives for which our parks 
were originally created. 
We question the propriety and equity of a proposal that involves diver- 
sion of state property, purchased by state funds, to 'the jurisdiction of a 
municipality. Illinois Beach State Park can be most useful and attractive to 
the public if its unique natural features are preserved. There is little reason 
to use the park for forms of recreation that can be located elsewhere. 
The mechanisms for transferring the park land to the control of Wau- 
kegan fall into two categories. The first is legislative action, requiring much 
time. A second avenue being considered, more rapid and direct, is that of 
administrative transfer. By this plan an appeal would be made to the Gov- 
ernor to transfer jurisdiction of parts of the park from the Department of 
Conservation to the Illinois Port Authority, which in turn would deed the 
area to the city of Waukegan. The latter transfer is possibly illegal but 
could well go unnoticed if public attention were not brought to bear. 
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