fae AUDUBON BULLETIN 
Published Quarterly by the 
ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 
ROOSEVELT ROAD AND LAKE SHORE DRIVE, CHICAGO 5, ILL. 
Number 104 December, 1957 
Natural Resources Council Meeting — 1957 
By Mrs. ANNE BAYLESS 
“CONSERVATION EDUCATION” was the theme of the fourth annual conference 
of the Natural Rescurces Council of Illinois held at the St. Nicholas Hotel, 
Springfield, Oct. 4-6. The theme was carried out with reports on the con- 
servation education programs of the Department of Conservation, the De- 
partment of Public Instruction, 4-H Clubs, and Boy Scouts, as well as a 
panel discussion on means of bringing conservation more fully to teachers 
and thus to youngsters. 
The meeting opened Friday night with a discussion of the N.R.C.I.’s place 
in Illinois conservation by Milton Thompson, Assistant Director of the Illi- 
nois State Museum and a delegate from the Illinois Audubon Society. Mr. 
Thompson reemphasized the purposes and method of operation of the 
N.R.C.I. Pointing out that many groups in the state are interested in con- 
servation, he noted that the Council was conceived as a clearing house where 
these groups could present their programs, The history of similar organiza- 
tions has shown that, in view of the independent and often opposing actions 
and philosophies of the member groups, the Council could take no stand in 
its name or bind its member organizations to act on a conservation issue. 
“This last is the hardest point for many groups of action-prone Americans 
to understand and accept,” said Mr. Thompson, “It is vital to our survival 
as a Conservation Council! We never have the right to say that the N.R.C.I. 
supports or fosters this idea or that program. But we can go back and say: 
‘We, as a representative of our home group, heard this delegate of a given 
organization present a problem and state what action they intend to take. 
They requested our support. What is your pleasure?’ 
“. .Yet that does not mean that this is a powerless, ineffective group. 
The N.R.C.I. provides the opportunity for persuasion. We are neither a 
supreme court nor an executive department. We are simply a clearing house 
and a very important one. I feel strongly that many of the bills presented 
to the last session of the Illinois Legislature received support from a more 
widely distributed and informed citizenry than if the council had not met.” 
James Helfrich, superintendent of education of the Conservation Depart- 
ment, reported on recent conservation legislation, such as the increase in 
cost of hunting and fishing licenses, with funds thus obtained earmarked 
for improvement to existing areas and acquisition of more land areas “be- 
fore it is too late.”’” He discussed the Hawk and Owl Bill (which was spon- 
sored by the Illinois Audubon Society and which ofhed wide support from 
groups large and small through publicity spread by the N.R.C.I.). The bill 
is designed to protect all hawks and owls in the state, removing the three 
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