et ear Wl Ue BeOaNe BB Uy Gel eben Bl 
cee Oe MASON Merce eet he LaSalle — Boone — Will Counties 
errmeM ICO A ON esee k oes ecto: Galena — Rockford — Ogle 
emer esis A TCT GS .2c.. cere ste ese ca - McLean — Kankakee — Woodford 
Pome ttaroldyVeldé.24 3.2) an.tik: Peoria — Bureau — Stark — Putnam 
oe roberts Chiperfield. )..2.0 8)... 4 Rock Island — Henry — Fulton 
EMESIS LIN PSOM! oe aden cee oe ee Hancock — Mersey — Morgan 
miemeeeelen a. Mack .2.0.- 05.2420. t.2!. Springfield — Mason — Bond 
geome William Springer ........-.---.-<s::: Champaign — Dewitt — Shelby 
Pomme haries Vursells 1a .4.2.0.3.u2 Wabash — Vermilion — Fayette 
BOL] Ville PY ICG... 22.223) ee Kast St. Louis — Madison 
Zomeeeiwenneth! Gray....2 eT Little Egypt — Jackson — Union 
Letters to the above should be addressed to: 
House Office Bldg. 
Washington, D.C. 
United States Senators from Illinois: 
BSETIION OCNIALOM. -. 2. c2c.<-c.+-2-2-c0isa te eUEL ee) OU S eres eter ee ee Chicago 
EI Ce SCT ALOT A. 2-5-0) 02cde. exe Everett Mi) Dirksen 22.2. Aus 2 Pekin 
Letters to the Senators should be addressed to: 
SeiarOten sel atee. 
Senate Office Bldg. 
Washington, D.C. 
Bi a fl 
Victory for the Whooping Cranes 
BIRD-LOVERS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY were alarmed to hear, on August 23, 
1955, that the U.S. Air Force, at a meeting in Port Lavaca, Texas, was plan- 
ning to take over an area of 50,000 acres in San Antonio Bay on the Gulf 
of Mexico for night photoflash bombing practice. The edges of this area were 
within a mile of the Aransas Wildlife Refuge, winter resting grounds of 
the last known flock of one of the rarest American birds, the Whooping 
Crane. The photoflash bombs, which are bright enough to be seen 100 miles 
away on a clear night, had previously driven a flock of geese out of the Salt 
Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. 
The number of letters of protest pouring in upon Air Force Secretary 
Donald Quarles, as well as President Eisenhower, must have been tremen- 
dous. A few weeks later, newspapers all over the country carried the an- 
nouncement that the Air Force had decided to do its bombing elsewhere. The 
Cranes made the front pages again in October, when U.S. Wildlife biologists 
reported that not only had the complete flock of 21 Whooping Cranes re- 
turned to their winter quarters, but that four young had also appeared. This 
is the first increase in the flock in more than five years. Perhaps this fall 
marks the turning point in the struggle for survival of these splendid birds. 
