THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
Published Quarterly by the 
ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 
Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Ill., 60605 
Number 141 
March 1967 
THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE 
By RAYMOND MOSTEK 
Americans have a great capacity for 
creating organizations and commit- 
tees to deal with almost any prob- 
lem or situation or condition. New 
groups are formed almost daily to 
deal with some hobby or some in- 
terest. That has been true of our 
nation and its people since the 
colonial era. 
The field of outdoor conserva- 
tion is no different than any other. 
In this respect, I discussed the prob- 
lem with Michael Nader of The 
Wilderness Society while on a pack 
trip into the wilderness country of 
Montana. The Wilderness Society 
was founded in 1936 by the famed 
forester and wilderness advocate, 
Robert Marshall. It was created to 
emphasize a need — and to call more 
attention to the urgency of legisla- 
tive protection for fragile wilder- 
ness in our national parks and our 
national forests. Nader explained 
that certain values are lost, and 
there is a diminution of activity and 
pressure and influence in certain 
spheres, if a large organization is 
called upon to handle too many 
chores. 
Even national conservation organizations are never adequately financed. 
Many state and local groups must depend largely upon volunteers for 
assistance. With the needs so great, it becomes obvious that certain areas 
of interest and concern would fall by the wayside if some organization 
did not exist to point out the problems and seek solutions. 
Thus, Americans created the National Audubon Society in 1905 to 
protect wild birds; the National Parks Association in 1919 to protect our 
national park values; the Izaak Walton League of America in 1922 to 
protect soil, water, and forest resources of the nation; the National Wildlife 
Federation in 1936, and the Nature Conservancy in 1946 to help purchase 
and preserve small natural areas. 
The membership dues, purposes and objectives of one organization — 
which may appeal to one person — may not appeal to another. One advan- 
tage we gain by the existence of many organizations, especially on the local 
level, is the great opportunity to rally more citizens to certain situations. 
Here in Illinois we have worked towards cooperation among outdoor 
conservation groups, creating new “coordinating councils’ where the task 
was simply too great for one group to handle. We have recently seen 
creation of such cooperating groups as the Prairie Chicken Foundation of 
Illinois which helps purchase sanctuary land for the prairie grouse in south 
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