16 TH EY AU D°UIB OIN GU il hee 
Most areas set aside for wildlife sanctuaries, whether they be in subur- 
ban forests, ““odd-areas” on farms, or natural areas in parks, can be used for 
outdoor conservation education. Under adequate supervision, no harm will 
come to plant and animal life (Shomon, 1964, p. 34). 
ACQUISITION 
In the spring of 1963, representatives of the Kishwaukee Audubon Society 
of DeKalb County, Illinois asked the owner of farm property in Section 21 
of Kingston township, Illinois, T-42 N-R. 4E. to lease the 95-acre, non- culti- 
vated land parcel of his 300-acre farm (Fig.1). Since the owner was moving 
some distance from the community and was not interested in selling his farm 
property, it was to his advantage to have an organization, such as the local 
Audubon Society, take active interest in protecting the site as a wildlife area 
and use it for educational purposes. A nominal rental of approximately one 
dollar per acre was agreed upon, with the lease renewable on a year-to-year 
basis. The local Audubon Society also agreed to take out a liability insurance 
policy which would protect the lessor as well as the not-for-profit corporation 
lessee (Krausz and Lemon, 1964). 
GEOLOGY AND ECOLOGY 
Geologically, the sanctuary area in Section 21, Kingston township, includes 
outcroppings of the Maquoketa group dolomite shale and limestone. The over- 
burden is chiefly glacial drift of the Pleistocene age and recent alluvium in 
present day stream valleys. The glacial deposits consist of till and outwash 
where the till is a mixture of clay, sand and silt and the outwash stratified 
beds of silt, sand, and gravel (Bradbury, 1965). Prairie soil within the sanc- 
tuary area is Clarion-Webster under the old classification (USDA, 1988). 
Under the new tentative classification it is in the order Mollisoll, suborder 
M4, Udoll (Larson, 1964, p. 100). 
The non-cultivated land includes at least five major ecological habitats, 
each with its own series of micro-ecological systems. 
i. Forest: 
A. Upland; ranges from old-field succession, through shagbark hickory 
openings with aspen, to remnant sugar maple. 
B. Lowland; river bottom cottonwood, elm, willow forest. 
Meadow: Prairie remnant. 
3. Shallow Pond: Approximately three acres in surface area and six feet in 
depth, sandstone bottom, mud filled, water source from at least four 
springs, flowing in all seasons, and surface drainage from forest. 
4. River Area: South branch of Kishwaukee river, which flows south, then 
westward. Average width at flood level is approximately 150 feet, average 
depth six feet, sandstone bottom. 
5. Edge of Cultivated and Abandoned Fields: Includes old-field succession, 
edge of upland forest and remnant prairie. 
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES 
Staff members of Northern Illinois University and their students are using 
this wildlife sanctuary for scientific research and field trips. Two ecological 
studies are under way at the present time; one is on evidence of succession 
in the marginal area on the west edge of the forest between land-bank soil 
and the edge of forest from plowed land to the forest. The other is an analy- 
sis of 100 square meters of forest, comparing different methods of forest 
analysis (Bullington, 1965). 
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