24 Tele Ey eA UD Ut BrOaN 2 Bs Uri ieee 
NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF ILLINOIS 
By Mrs. Nina Stutzman 
The Tenth Annual Conference of the Natural Resources Council of Illinois, 
a forum of conservation groups, was held at Allerton Park, near Monti- 
cello, on October 11, 12 and 18, to discuss conservation problems: (1) water 
pollution, (2) land use, both public and private, and (3) pesticides. 
In a round table discussion moderated by Robert Buzzard of Sterling, 
the work of the Illinois Clean Streams Committee in fighting water pollu- 
tion was discussed. Twenty counties now have good committees at work. 
The chief problems are chemical wastes from industry and raw sewage 
being poured into streams. Communities have been slow in providing 
adequate sewage treatment plants. 
Multiple-use cf public lands was discussed by Frank Kopetke of the 
Shawnee National Forest, who noted that increased demands on the same 
number of acres have necessitated a more intense program of management. 
Multiple use of city parks and natural areas, as well as intensified use 
because of urban sprawl, has made long-range planning essential. Clarence 
E. Hammond discussed what Peoria is doing with this problem, as well 
as the growing need to preserve some open spaces for future use as cities 
expand. Mr. James Moak of the Illinois Department of Conservation told 
what the Department has been doing to encourage use of private lands 
in Illinois for recreational purposes. 
A representative of the chemical industry, Mr. Louis McLean, Secre- 
tary of Velsicol, and Dr. Harlow B. Mills, Chief of the Illinois Natural His- 
tory Survey, gave reports showing that much research on proper use and 
control of pesticides is being done by both private industry and govern- 
ment groups in helping to solve what has become one of the most important 
and most controversial problems facing us today. Mrs. Andrew Taft, a 
chemist from Highland Park, discussed a research project she has been 
doing under a grant from the National Science Foundation on the effect 
of detergents on the growth of plants. 
The banquet speaker was Dr. Loren Taylor, Assistant Professor of 
Recreation and Outdoor Education at Southern Illinois University. He 
expressed the belief that a lack of moral training in homes and schools, 
as well as failure of adults to set good examples, may be the real cause 
of much of the vandalism prevalent today. He also expressed the belief 
that throughout our school system, the natural curiosity of children is 
repressed or even stultified. 
In the business meeting, the belief was expressed that NRCI has drifted 
away from its original purpose of being a forum for conservation groups 
in Illinois until it has become an independent conservation group with 
individual memberships taking precedence. So much of an educational 
nature has been crowded into the meetings that insufficient time has been 
left for discussion. 
Much interest was shown in Dr. S. Glidden Baldwin’s account of 
‘politics in action’. He described his campaign, with the aid of the Vermilion 
County Audubon Society and the newspapers in Danville and Champaign- 
Urbana, to prevent the best areas of Kickapoo State Park, near Danville, 
from being turned over to the Ayrshire Collieries for strip-mining. As a 
result of this intensive campaign, sufficient protests were made to cause 
the Governor to veto this biil. 
