oo eee ee BONG BU LG Bere N 4) 
Division of Parks and Memorials. The Department of Conservation leases 
from the federal government for fishing and hunting about as much land 
as it owns. Illinois state parks and memorials represent most of the state’s 
great beauty spots and offer recreational facilities not otherwise available 
to the public. A number of parks, such as Lincoln’s New Salem and 
Starved Rock, are world famous. 
Director William T. Lodge 
of the Department of Con- 
servation has pointed out 
that within the next 15 
years Illinois should acquire 
and develop between 200,- 
000 and 300,000 additional 
acres for recreational use. 
At present Illinois has 5.8 
acres of such lands per per- 
son, one of the lowest ratios 
in the nation, and needs at 
least 20 acres per person. 
The need is not only for 
new areas, but the enlarge- 
ment of present parks, as 
a number are now gradu- 
ally being destroyed by 
overuse. Siloam Springs State Pk. - Boat Dock on Crab Apple Lake 
Parks and memorials have suffered greatly by the curtailment of 
state funds. None of an appropriation of $1,000,000 for the extension and 
development of camping areas has been made available. The Department 
of Conservation has had only about half of its appropriation made by the 
last Legislature released. Despite the lack of funds, much park develop- 
ment has been done. Nine out of ten Youth Commission Forestry Camps 
are located in state parks, and it is figured that each boy performs services 
worth $1,500 a year. One new Forestry Camp was opened in 1962 at Pere 
Marquette State Park. For the first time, recipients of public aid worked 
in the parks during the summer of 1962. Parks Superintendent William E. 
Smith estimates their work was worth $40,000 to the state. 
As money becomes available it is the desire of the Division of Parks 
and Memorials to up-grade its naturalist program and to provide this service 
at a number of additional parks. Illinois has much plant and animal life 
preserved in the parks that has disappeared elsewhere, and schools in par- 
ticular feel the need of a stronger interpretive program. Closely related 
to the naturalist work is the improvement and extension of nature trails 
and a comprehensive system of trail marking. 
In recent years there has been much work to increase the value of 
state memorials and historic areas. The museum at Cahokia Mounds State 
Park has been rebuilt and at the present time the entire pioneer village in 
Lincoln’s New Salem State Park is undergoing a complete facelifting. 
All of the New Salem cabins are being made structurally sound, re- 
roofed and rebuilt as necessary. Extensive work is being done to a number 
