6 THE‘AU DU B,ON) BU Dine 
Conservation News and Notes 
By RAYMOND MOSTEK 
WICHITA WILDLIFE REFUGE: The Army Brass has begun its determined 
campaign to obtain ten thousand acres of precious wildlife land in Okla- 
homa. (See Mrs. Nice’s article in the March 1956 Bulletin). Hearings are 
being held before a House Subcommittee on HR 9665 as this is being written. 
Hearings are still to be held on S. 3660. This is one of the most important 
outdoor conservation bills introduced in this session of Congress. This time, 
by some miracle, we have the Interior Department on our side — they are 
opposed to these bills, as are thousands of conservationists all over the 
nation. But if we are only “‘conversationalists,” we will never win this fight. 
It is sheer tragedy that we have to fight our own Army to protect for 
our future generations and for all wildlife these inspiring refuges which 
thoughtless men would ruthlessly destroy. We can extend to these Army 
officers our genuine pity for their failure to appreciate these areas as we do; 
their obvious sincerity must not weaken our determination to protect these 
lands. There is no bureau in Washington more autocratic and dogmatic 
than the U.S. Army. This time a pen can really be mightier than a guided 
missile. Get your society and your friends to take action now. Let your 
Congressman know how you feel about these bills. 
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OIL AND WILDLIFE: The Interior Department is still trying to explain the 
rash of oil leases on wildlife refuges made in the last several months. It is 
of course perfectly legal for the Interior Secretary to grant leases to drill 
for oil, but he can say ‘‘no.”’ While Douglas McKay was in office, he issued 
a “stop order” on August 31, 19538 which in effect placed a moratorium on 
all oil leases, while new regulations were being worked out. However, be- 
tween August 31, 1953 and Dec. 2, 1955, over 555 leases were granted to 
the oil companies. Asst. Secretary Wesley D’Ewart has tried to explain 
away these deals. However, the best explanation comes from a vigorous 
conservationist, who in talking with Interior officials, has learned that they 
sincerely believe that the demands of big business and industry must come 
first in this country and that wildlife needs are secondary. This points up 
again the necessity of teaching “conservation of our natural resources” to 
the youths of our country. Some of these business leaders probably never 
learned that our country’s general prosperity depends to a great extent 
on the wise use of our resources. 
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ILLINOIS STATE PARKS: Residents of Northern Illinois will be glad to learn 
of the generous gift of 1715 acres of land along the Kankakee River to the 
State Conservation Department. The gift was made by the Commonwealth 
Edison Co. The property will be added to a small state park already in 
existence. There appears to be little or no opposition to modest admission 
fees collected at seven Illinois State Parks. An advisory commission is 
making a survey of the situation and will report to the legislature in March, 
