PE ES A*U?D U+B-O*N- 4B: Ue Ly keele 
CONSERVATIONISTS ATTEMPT A RALLY 
AS NEW THREATS TO NATURAL AREAS 
ARE REPORTED 
THE ALLERTON PARK SITUATION: 
Near Monticello, in Piatt County, the wooded area of more than 
1,500 acres — known as Allerton Park, and now owned by the Uni- 
versity of Illinois — was donated to the State of Illinois on October 
14, 1946, by the late Robert Allerton, long-time member of the Illinois 
Audubon Society and supporter of Chicago’s Art Institute. His former 
home in the park has been the site of numerous association meetings 
and conventions; nearly 250 acres serve 4-H clubs as a memorial 
camp, and the entire area is used as an educational and research 
center. It has become famous for extensive, formal gardens, for the 
Garden of the Fu Dogs, the Sun Singer, the Lost Garden, and its many 
hiking trails and woodland roads. 
The Army Corps of Engineers now has revised original 1961 plans 
to build Oakley Reservoir within the park: New plans are to raise 
the water level 15 feet — from the original 621 feet above sea level 
to 636 feet. Conservationists point out that this would not only destroy 
the bottomlands of the Sangamon River valley thru Allerton Park, 
it would cause permanent ugliness thru mud flats, and destruction of 
most of the beauty of Allerton Park. Senator Everett Dirksen and 
Congressman Wm. Springer are among the sponsors of the project. 
University of Illinois students Curtis Vail of 604 N. Maple St., 
Urbana, Ill. 61801, and Bruce Hannon, 1208 Union, Champaign, have 
been working feverishly to rally support for the park. Petitions have 
been sent to many conservation clubs and conservation leaders in 
the state. The revised plans of the U.S. Corps of Engineers is opposed 
by the Illinois Audubon Society and the Champaign County Audubon 
Society. The Illinois Nature Preserves Commission has also raised 
grave doubts concerning the plans. Conservationists are working 
desperately to cause a change of opinion by public officials. 
ra ft gE A 
THE LUSK CREEK CANYON SITUATION: 
Lusk Creek Canyon in the Shawnee National Forest is one of the 
most spectacular, unspoiled natural areas in all of southern Illinois — 
one of the few remaining places where one has the chance to ex- 
perience a feeling of remoteness and adventure, unfortunately absent 
from most parks and recreation areas. 
The path along the stream winds through rich woodlands, but 
in places the perpendicular sandstone bluffs rise almost a hundred 
feet from the narrow bed of the creek. One may climb through a 
narrow crevice in these bluffs to reach the summit. At the top, the 
