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ean be protected as Nature Preserves. Certain areas in the Shawnee 
National Forest and along the Mississippi River have been investigated 
and found worthy of being preserved in their natural condition. Practices 
in these areas, such as hunting, lumbering, camping and picnicking, could 
conceivably destroy their natural features. Therefore, conversations are 
being held with the Federal agencies to find some means of protecting these 
areas aS nature preserves. 
Since the article by Blanch P. Young on the The Nature Conservancy 
appeared in the August, 1965 number of “OUTDOOR ILLINOIS,” nine 
areas in addition to the six described have been, or are about to be, donated 
to the Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. 
Harris Tract was the generous gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Harris of 
Winnetka. It is located one mile west of Wisconsin Highway 45 on County 
K. An extensive cattail march dominates two-thirds of this 228-acre tract. 
A peninsula of high ground with several huge bur oaks extends into the 
raarsh. The rest of the area is upland, consisting of oak-hickory woods, 
bluegrass turf, a sedge meadow and three small ponds fed by springs. 
Since this area is located in Wisconsin, the Illinois Chapter has transferred 
it to the Wisconsin Chapter for management by the Kenosha Center of 
the University of Wisconsin with assistance and advice of the University 
Aboretum staff in Milwaukee and Madison. 
Carpenter Woods was donated by Mrs. Arthur Dixon of Lake Forest. 
These nine and one-half acres of DesPlaines River flood plain and upland 
forest have a variety of trees — red and American elm, hackberry, soft 
maple, ironwood, blue beech — and a carpet of wild flowers abloom in 
the spring. The area is located at the west end of Old School Road, 
Libertyville, west of Lake Forest. It is used by the Biology Department of 
Lake Forest College for field trips and research. 
Holmboe Nature Preserve of 32 acres on the Pelican River, Rhine- 
lander, Wisconsin, came to the Illinois Chapter through the efforts of the 
author, a friend of the Holmboe family (who now live in Mill Valley, 
California). On the densely wooded ridges of the Preserve are 28 species 
of native northern trees, such as red and white pine, hemlock, balsam, 
arbor vitae, white and yellow birch, and maple. In the intervening bog 
and swamp areas are Indian-pipe, clematis, pyrolas, pitcher plant, sundew, 
20 species of native orchids, and some 40 species of fungi. 
Ica Marks, a retired biology teacher at Eastern Illinois University, 
has presented 40 acres in Edwards County, 5 miles southwest of Parkers- 
burg. This area has two creeks and a river, bluffs, clay hills, upland and 
flood plain remnants. River birches reach unusually large size, and native 
catalpas are present. It was originally a farm, but all traces of buildings 
have disappeared, and the previous cultivated pieces are reverting to 
natural landscape. The area is ideally suited for research of old field 
succession; it is now being studied by the biologists of Eastern Illinois 
University. 
Another 40 acres, Big Creek Preserve, 242 miles south of Olney, will 
come to the Illinois Chapter as soon as an estate is settled. It is being 
given by Dr. Frances Cline of Rhinelander, Wisconsin. -She read an account 
of the gift of the Holmboe Preserve in the Rhinelander newspaper, and 
immediately offered a gift of the land near Olney, which had come to her 
by inheritance. Big Creek runs through this property. There are north- 
facing bluffs and outcrops of rock, a flood plain with sycamore, sweet 
gum and river birch, and an upland woodland with oaks, hickories, tulip 
trees, hard maple, black gum, wahoo, and other shrubs. It is a favorite 
locality for bird study by the members of the Ridgway Bird Club of Olney. 
