26 THE? AU Ds BON] BU tiie ieee) 
NATURE PRESERVES IN ILLINOIS 
By Margery C. Carlson 
Member, Illinois Nature Preserves Commission 
Man’‘s capacity to alter the world of nature is truly awesome. If you have 
ever watched an enormous bulldozer pushing through a woods, destroying 
everything in its path, to prepare the land for a subdivision, you have 
surely caught your breath in amazement. Natural lands, places of wild 
beauty, open spaces, and even swamps are diminishing at an astounding 
rate. 
In addition to the disappearance of natural areas, those now in public 
ownership in our State Parks and County Forest Preserves are being en- 
dangered by over use. As the population grows and leisure time, mobility, 
and wealth increase, people flock to our public lands for camping and 
picnicking, and the very features for which these areas were established 
are being destroyed. Places for such activities must be found in areas 
other than in a woods carpeted with wildflowers. 
New approaches to the problems of the preservation of natural areas 
are necessary, and fortunately they are appearing as we become more 
and more conscious of what is happening to the natural landscape. 
In 1963, the Illinois legislature passed the Nature Preserves Law. which 
provides for the creation of a system of Nature Preserves in the State, and 
for the establishment of the Nature Preserves Commission whose work 
is to choose the areas to be preserved and to formulate rules for their 
preservation. The Commission consists of nine persons, appointed by the 
Governor and chosen from “persons with an interest in the preservation 
of natural lands,” representing all parts of the state, and serving without 
pay. It meets four times a year in different parts of the state. 
The Commission has defined a Nature Preserve as “a tract of land 
formally dedicated to be protected in its natural state, under the super- 
vision of the State Department of Conservation and the Illinois Nature 
Preserves Commission.” The preserves are acquired and maintained “as 
areas of scientific, educational, and esthetic interest. Visits by the public 
are permitted only in such manner and to such degree as will not modify 
natural conditions.” Thus, they differ from state parks and forest preserves, 
which are maintained primarily for public recreational use. 
Rules for the management of Illinois Nature Preserves have been 
drawn up by the Commission. Land management practices and manage- 
ment of visitors and use have been spelled out in detail. For example, 
“There shall be no cutting of grass, brush, or other vegetation, thinning 
of trees, removal of dead wood, opening of scenic vistas, or planting, ex- 
cept as provided in the master plan for the preserve. There shall be no 
removal or consumptive use of a material, product, or object from a Nature 
Preserve. Prohibited activities include grazing by domestic animals, farm- 
ing, gathering of firewood or other plant products, mining or quarrying, 
harvesting of fish, furbearers, or game animals, and dumping, burying, or 
spreading of garbage, trash or other material.” 
Copies of the Nature Preserve Law, the Rules for Management of 
Ijlinois Nature Preserves, and a pamphlet on what the Nature Preserves 
System is and how it operates are obtainable from the Illinois Nature 
Preserves Commission, 819 North Main Street, Rockford, Illinois 61103. 
