ey he AwUsleUE BR -OUN eh Lela kvl TEN 13 
Conservation News and Notes 
By RAYMOND MOSTEK 
INTERIOR SECRETARY DOUGLAS MCKAY has come under severe criticism by 
the National Wildlife Federation for issuing new rules for oil leasing and 
exploration in the National Wildlife Refuges. Of the 264 areas, only 8 
refuges have been given absolute protection from such exploitation. Such 
chiseling away of our wild areas will result in their eventual elimination. 
Not since the days of President William Howard Taft has any Interior 
Secretary been so roundly condemned as has Sec. McKay. In less than four 
years, McKay has: 
1. Supported the billion dollar Upper Colorado River Project, which in- 
cludes Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument. McKay has 
now withdrawn support for the dam but still supports the Project. 
2. Chosen ex-Rep. Wesley D’Ewart of Montana as the Assistant Secre- 
tary of the Interior. Mr. D’Ewart was one of the strong supporters of 
the Ellsworth forest grab bill, beaten in the last Congress. (See end 
of this article for more details). 
Approved the Al Sarena Mines application in Oregon, wherein a pri- 
vate concern was given 300 acres of federal lands of dubious mineral 
content, over vigorous protests of the Forest Service. The Al Sarena 
Mines, Inc. thus obtained control of over $600,000 worth of timber. 
4. Instructed the National Park Service to permit construction of ski 
lifts in Mount Ranier and Rocky Mountain National Parks. Ski lifts 
have never been allowed in National Parks in the past because they 
destroy the pristine beauty for which these areas were set aside. 
Self-seeking Chambers of Commerce are persistent in their demands 
that our National Parks become Coney Island playgrounds. 
Sec. McKay’s office has given permission to the Frankfort Oil Company 
to exploit the Lacassine Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. Conservationists 
have complained that oilfield operations will result in the spread of two 
weeds, both difficult to control. Approval of this application has been traced 
to the White House. Unfortunately, President Eisenhower does not seem 
to maintain a great interest in outdoor conservation. Newsweek Magazine 
reports that McKay’s presence in the cabinet has become a liability and that 
he is under pressure to resign. McKay may become a candidate for United 
States Senator. In that case, Oregon will again become a conservation 
battleground as it was in 1954. 
Efforts to save the Elgin Botanical Gardens from the grasp of the Illinois 
Toll-Road Commission have been stepped up by the Elgin Conservation 
Council. Members who live in the area are asked to write Mr. Raymond 
Botch, City Manager of Elgin. The proposed highway will cut off 300 feet 
of the north limits of the Gardens. Several groups who are members of 
the Natural Resources Council of Illinois have been urged to write to Mr. 
Austin Wyman, newly-appointed Chairman of the Toll-Road Commission, at 
160 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, asking that such natural areas be preserved. 
The Save-the-Dunes Council of Indiana (Box 1111, Gary, Ind.) has ob- 
tained considerable publicity in the Chicago Magazine and the Chicago 
Sun-Times lately. The group was formed in 1952 to work for the extension 
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