Tet lene. DeUSB-OUN) BaUv ie LET TN 21 
I. A. 8S. CONSERVATION AWARD PRESENTED 
TO MR. AND MRS. RICHARD B. HOGER 
By Isabel B. Wasson 
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article is condensed from Mrs. Wasson’s 
letter nominating Mr. and Mrs. Hoger for the 1962 Conservation Award 
of the Illinois Audubon Society. In presenting the award at the May 
Annual Meeting in Naperville, Vice-President Raymon Mostek read the 
full text of Mrs. Wasson’s nomination. 
THE CHICAGO ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY recommends that Mr. 
and Mrs. Richard Hoger of 28101 Park Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, be selected 
as winners of the 1962 Conservation Award of the Illinois Audubon Society. 
This husband-and-wife team deserves the honor for their care of thousands 
of incapacitated birds and mammals from 1946 to the present time—first 
at their own home and at their own expense, and since 1958 at Willow 
Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, the first nature center in DuPage County. The 
Sanctuary is under the DuPage Forest Preserve District, but the Hogers 
operate the center and give their spare time without remuneration. 
Especially to be commended is their care of nearly 2,000 shore birds found 
poisoned at the Lake Calumet Cinder Flats and brought to them from 
1954 to 1958. The Hogers cured and released 465 birds. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hoger started the Wildlife Haven idea in 1946, pri- 
marily to operate a receiving station for injured or helpless birds and 
animals. Soon people from all over the county were bringing in specimens, 
and all of the Hogers’ spare time was devoted to their care. For 138 years 
they paid the entire operating cost and donated their services. 
The number of animals treated rose from a few dozen in 1946 to 
1,000 per year by 1958. Biology classes, scouts, 4-H Clubs, and individuals 
from the Chicago area began to make use of the Wildlife Haven. Groups 
began writing to the DuPage Forest Preserve District, urging that a 
public facility be provided. 
In September 1958 the Willow Brook Wildlife Haven was con- 
structed and the entire operation was transferred there. The Haven includes 
a tract of woods with a brook, a new building with cages for birds, a work- 
room, and large outdoor cages for animals and birds of prey. The Forest 
Preserve District pays for the food and housing of the wildlife and provides 
a home nearby for the Hoger family, which includes three children. They 
have received about 1,500 birds and animals in each of the past three years. 
At present a three-point program is in progress: (1) operation of a 
receiving station for incapacitated wildlife; (2) construcion of self-guided 
nature trails; (8) operation of a government bird-banding station. The 
greatest single project of the Hogers over the years has been the salvaging 
of poisoned shore birds from the Cinder Flats. The following table 
shows the numbers of birds received and the results of their efforts. 
After the table is a list of the species involved. 
Year Received Dead or Dying Total Treated Cured Cure Rate 
1954 478 78 400 102 25 % 
1955 818 200 618 2038 33 % 
1956 500 150 350 125 35 % 
1957 No birds found poisoned in this year 
1958 175 95 80 35 40% 
