8 THE A‘\U DUB OIN” BU UILeE Tie 
Conservation News and Notes 
By RAYMOND MOSTEK 
New Mining Claim Law Passed. After several years of controversy and 
indecision, Congress finally revised our antiquated mining laws, which had 
not been changed since 1872. Under the old law, many fraudulent claims 
were filed by individuals on public land. Under pretense of looking for 
minerals, they would stake out land for a summer home, tie up thousands 
of dollars worth of timber, even establish business outlets. The new law 
strengthens the National Forest Service and indirectly benefits fish and 
wildlife. 
Armpatches for Audubon Members. The long-awaited armpatch which 
Illinois Audubon Society members may place on their jackets and coats will 
soon be available. It will sell for about $1.50 or less; the insignia will help 
identify you as an honorable bird watcher and often permit you to gain 
entrance to “sacred” places. 
Slaughter of Wood Ducks Continues. In April of this year, the Mississippi 
Flyway Council, composed of the conservation directors of 12 states, met 
to make their recommendations for wildfowl hunting seasons and bag 
limits to the Fish and Wildlife Service. With only Glen Palmer, Director of 
the Illinois Department of Conservation, dissenting, the Council voted to 
permit the shooting of one wood duck per hunter per day. This vote was 
taken in spite of testimony by wildlife experts that numbers of wood ducks 
were dangerously low. When protests arose in Iowa, Minnesota and Wis- 
consin, the conservation directors of those states, by executive decree, de- 
clared a closed season on wood ducks. But Illinois has no provisions for 
such executive action, and hunting of wood ducks was permitted. Director 
Palmer asked that hunters spare these ducks if they could, but his appeals 
seem to have gone unheeded. Mr. Palmer should be commended for his 
earnest attempt to save a threatened and beautiful species; and we should 
try to change our Illinois laws so that action can be taken before it is too 
late. 
New Game Refuges and Waterfowl Marshes may result from the pas- 
sage of S. 756 by Congress in the last session. This bill allocates over 15 
million dollars to the states from revenues obtained through the Pittman- 
Robertson Act. This money was being held in the U.S. Treasury for many 
years. It will be spent over a five-year period. The act requires the state 
to put up one dollar for each three dollars it receives in federal funds. 
Golden Anniversary of the Conservation Movement. Senator Murray of 
Montana has introduced a resolution to give official federal recognition 
to the 50th anniversary of the conference of governors first called by Presi- 
dent Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 to consider the problems of resource deple- 
tion and wildlife management. The resolution establishes a Commission to 
prepare a thorough plan for the observance and commemoration of that 
historic conference at the White House. The Commission, with a budget of 
$100,000, would cease to exist after one year. 
