Daun sle Uelleb ONas Bb? Uviielh T EN 9 
CONSERVATION CORNER 
By Betty Groth 
ROGER TORY PETERSON sent a personal note of thanks from Old 
Lyme, Connecticut, to your Conservation Vice President “for acting so 
promptly and so energetically upon receipt of the telegram about the 
Eagle Bill.”” His urgent wire to President Mostek caused the Vice President 
to send six airmail letters and two telegrams to Washington to fight for 
the Golden Eagle Bill which was endangered by Texas ranchers forcing 
their Senator Tower’s amendment through to allow killing of the eagle 
for protection of agricultural interests and livestock. 
Senator Keating (N.Y.), co-sponsor of the bill, finally agreed not to 
oppose the amendment only because further opposition at that point might 
serve to kill the bill in the other House. At so late a stage in the session, 
only the “unanimous consent procedure” was possible for final clearance 
of the bill. Therefore the bill finally passed with the crippling amendment. 
This new measure, which needs only the Kennedy signature to be- 
come low, amends the Bald Eagle Act of 1840 to extend most of its protec- 
tive provisions to the Golden Eagle, and definitely outlaws the present mar- 
ket hunting of Golden Eagles and traffic in eagle skins, feathers and 
claws. However, we must reluctantly accept the Tower amendment, as only 
experience will show to what extent the Department of Interior will be 
obligated by the amendment to allow killing of Golden Eagles in behalf 
of protecting domesticated herds and flocks — when ranchers put the pres- 
sure on their Governors. 
Yesterday Roger Tory Peterson wrote another note on a conserva- 
tion report: “Thanks for your help!” We have made some progress in 
eagle protection, and we feel that we have done our best. Are we doing 
our best about other major issues now at stake? Have you written thanks 
to Congressman Sidney Yates for obtaining passage of legislation to ar- 
range appropriations for survey of alternate sites for the hotly contested 
Burns Ditch Harbor, thus helping to save the Indiana Dunes? 
While people worry about refreshments and colored movies at Audu- 
bon Clubs or conservation societies, the Wilderness Bill, waiting for ten 
years to become law, and already passed by the Senate of the United States, 
has had a wrecking job done on it by the House Interior Committee. The 
Chairman, Congressman Wayne N. Aspinall, calmly went home to Colorado 
on September 22nd, presumably to further his re-election campaign, and 
did not return to Washington, thereby preventing passage of the bill. An 
informal poll indicated that a majority of the members of the House Rules 
Committee, if given a chance, would have voted to schedule the measure 
for floor action, but House leadership declined to flash the green light in 
the absence of the Chairman. This is a severe blow to conservation, allow- 
ing the miners, grazers, and lumber interests to continue to plunder our 
irreplaceable wilderness and wildlife areas. 
What is happening to Open Spaces in your town and county? Are 
you fighting for what you know is right, no matter how big the odds are 
against you? Who was it that said: “NOT TO HAVE WON IS NOT TO 
HAVE LOST—NOT TO HAVE TRIED IS THE ONLY. FAILURE.” 
The Illinois Audubon Society has begun planning the presentation of the 
annual Dr. Lewy Memorial Book Award to the conservation group which 
has done an outstanding job of saving land for wildlife. This will be for- 
mally presented at the March 10, 1963, Audubon Screen Tour at the Mu- 
seum. Plan to be there and see the satisfaction of a group that has achieved 
success. Help us celebrate. 
Chicago Natural History Museum, Roosevelt Rd. and Lake Shore Dr., Chicago 5, Ill. 
