rob AO DU BON BULEE TIN 
Published Quarterly by the 
ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 
ROOSEVELT ROAD AND LAKE SHORE DRIVE, CHICAGO 5, ILL. 
Number 108 December, 1958 
The 1958 N.R.C.I. Meeting 
By JOHN R. BAYLESS 
THE ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY was well represented at the fifth annual 
meeting of the Natural Resources Council of Illinois, held Oct. 10-11, 1958, 
at Lorado Taft Field Campus of Northern Illinois University, situated 
north of Oregon on the Rock River. Besides our regular delegates and Elton 
Fawks, retiring chairman of the N.R.C.I., other directors and members of 
the I.A.S. attended as delegates of other nature groups. 
All of us who have attended these meetings are convinced of the value of 
such conferences in bringing together the great variety of viewpoints on 
conservation matters represented by the extremes of bird watchers and 
bird hunters. An example of the effectiveness of such conferences is the 
fact that the Izaak Walton League and the Illinois Federation of Sports- 
men’s Clubs supported us wholeheartedly in getting the Hawk and Owl 
Protection Bill through the Illinois legislature. We and they endorsed the 
increase in hunting and fishing license fees and the increased duck stamp 
fee, funds from which are used to preserve natural areas. 
The conference began at noon Friday and kept us hopping until 10 p.m. 
Saturday. On Sunday, Oct. 12, those who were able to stay a while longer 
enjoyed a nature walk in White Pines Forest State Park, led by I.A.S. 
member Mrs. Nell Seise, state naturalist. 
The Friday session comprised a series of talks on the general theme, 
“Recreation is Big Business.” Harry Styles of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service described the activities of that agency in handling 273 wildlife 
refuges, serving a variety of recreation demands that are constantly grow- 
ing. He emphasized that in almost all such activities, water, the most vital 
resource, is reused and not consumed by boating, fishing, waterfowl propa- 
gation, and other activities. As an example of the value of these refuges, 
he cited the increase in wintering population of Canada geese at Crab 
Orchard Lake in southern Illinois from 2,000 in 1948 to an estimated 90,000 
in the winter of 1957-58. Controlled hunting is permitted, cropping the 
surplus, but is never allowed to check the annual increase. Other recrea- 
tional uses of the area are compatible with the hunting and fishing activities 
that support the entire operation. Refuges must be on a part time use basis 
to protect breeding wildlife during nesting periods. For this reason access 
may be forbidden to certain areas at certain times. 
Dr. B. K. (Pete) Barton of the State Conservation Department, educa- 
tion division, showed color slides illustrating the construction activities in 
state parks, building of demonstration farm ponds, planting of shrubs and 
trees, contour plowing, and other practices that benefit farmers and at the 
same time create wildlife habitat. 
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