Dee ee As UY DEUS BeOUNS 5) UclLel Balai N 5 
Conservation Award 
THE FIRST OF WHAT is expected to be an annual series of awards to ama- 
teurs in Illinois for outstanding work in ornithology and conservation was 
made at the Annual Meeting in Decatur April 26. The award was a hand- 
somely lettered, framed citation to be hung on the wall. The following, 
taken from the text of the award presentation, tells something of the ac- 
complishments of the winner and why he was chosen: 
The Illinois Audubon Society is pleased and proud to present its first 
annual award for outstanding work in ornithology and conservation to Karl 
E. Bartel of Blue Island, Ill. All members and affiliated clubs were invited 
to submit nominees for this award several months ago. Mr. Bartel was the 
nominee of the Evanston Bird Club, though not a member. He was chosen 
from an impressive field of candidates. As the board of directors read about 
the qualifications of each one, it was impressed by the great amount of 
selfless work in ornithology and conservation being done in Illinois. 
Mr. Bartel’s achievements date back many years and read like the accom- 
plishments of a professional. Karl’s formal education may have ended with 
high school, but he has never stopped learning. He is employed as main- 
tenance repair man for the General Biological Supply House, Chicago, a 
company for which he has collected thousands of botanical specimens. 
His first interest in birds was stimulated in 1928 by his eighth grade 
teacher, who offered to lead the class on a bird walk. When it became ap- 
parent that the walk was going to be on a Saturday, only two wanted to 
go, Karl being one. He soon began to keep migration records, collect books 
on birds, and set up feeding stations. He became interested in bird banding 
after reading about this activity in The Chicago Tribune. On Feb. 11, 1933, 
he banded his first bird, a junco. In all he has banded 38,500 of 159 species; 
he has had 300 returns and about 250 recoveries. He operates from 100 to 
300 traps, and tries to band 1,000 birds a year. In addition to the usual 
songbirds, he bands sandpipers and great blue herons. 
Karl joined the Chicago Ornithological Society in 1932 and was its field 
secretary for many years; he is a past president. He also is treasurer of 
the Inland Bird Banding Assn., a member of the A.O.U., the Wilson Or. 
nithological Club, the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, and other groups. 
He has attended all A.O.U. and Wilson meetings since 1936, and it was 
because he had already committed himself to attend the Wilson meeting, 
which was held the same week-end, that he was not at the meeting in De- 
catur. His award was accepted on his behalf by Miss Helen McMillen, 
president of the Evanston Bird Club. 
Karl is active also in the Nature Conservancy, both nationally and in 
Illinois. Through his sole efforts, Ben Warren of Warren’s Turf Nursery 
was persuaded to set aside 1% acres of his land as a wildflower preserve, 
to save a few rare plants that are found there and nowhere else in Cook 
county. These include the Grass of Parnassus, Queen-of-the Prairie, Small 
Fringed Gentian, Sage Willow, and others. 
He has taken an active part in the Nature Conservancy’s drive to save 
the Volo and Wauconda bogs in northern Illinois. At his own expense he 
