22 THE VA"U+D UsB ON SB Ui ate aes 
18 feet of flood water could be dropped over a period of two months to 
the normal 636 foot water level. (D’Alba, 1967.) 
4. What damage would be done to the Park by the Oakley project? 
This question is best answered by considering the damage by the Oakley 
project to the stated purposes of the Park as given in the original indenture 
(see Question 1): 
4a. Would the forest of the Park be preserved? 
No. Over 600 acres of the forest would be bulldozed out. (Klimstra, et al., 
1967.) The present dense forest would be broken into strips and isolated 
populations. (Bliss, 1967.) A forester has described the character of the. 
forest in the Park: Trees that are restricted to the bottomland forest, 
annually covered for short periods by natural flood waters and uniquely 
adapted to these conditions, include soft maple, cottonwood, box elder, 
and black willow. In the higher terraces within the bottomland, truly 
magnificent sycamores, oaks, and white and green ash are present. In 
Allerton Park, 74% of the bottomland forest is old growth with the unique 
quality of being relatively undisturbed by man. (Geis, 1967.) 
The Corps estimates that it might take up to two months to drain impounded 
fiood waters from as much as 193 acres of river valley slopes. On the slopes 
of the Park’s valley grow, among other trees, white oaks, red oaks, sugar 
maples, and shingle oaks. (Dept. of Forestry, 1962.) These trees rarely occur 
in the lowlands (Dept. of Forestry, 1962) because of the typical 28 days 
of partial flooding and 15 days of full flooding that the lowlands now 
receive naturally in the period from early winter to early spring (Fawver, 
1967). In one study of pole-size red oaks, for example, it was found that 
60% of the trees were killed by 21 days of flooding and all were killed by 
30 days of flooding by a reservoir. (Williston, 1959.) Thus, trees now growing 
on the lower slopes of the valley would be killed by slow degrees by the 
flooding—flooding they do not now receive. 
The upland forest would also be altered by the loss of wind protection now 
provided by the bottomland forest. (Allee, et al., 1949.) “No doubt the 
little extra humidity of the air and adequate protection from winds are 
responsible for the Park’s success with evergreens which is greater than 
that of the upland areas nearby.” (Danforth, et al., 1951.) 
4b. Would the wildlife and plant life be preserved? 
No. By removing 52% of the forest of Allerton Park, the natural habitat 
for its birds, animals, and plant life would be reduced and in some cases 
completely eliminated. Some 154 species of birds frequent Allerton Park. 
Of the 42 species found to nest there, 35 birds have nested in the lowlands. 
Of these, two of the more common species of birds which depend exclu- 
sively on the lowland forest as a nesting habitat are the wood duck and 
the prothonotary warbler. In addition, the following birds have their 
best nesting populations in Allerton Park in this lowland forest habitat: 
the indigo bunting, the American redstart, the cerulean warbler, and the 
wood thrush. (Bursewicz, 1961.) 
Of the animals in the Park, Dr. D. F. Hoffmeister has stated: ‘“Seventy- 
four per cent of the mammals present in Allerton Park will be affected by 
the flooding (and destruction of the woodland) that would be caused by 
the Oakley Reservoir. Some of the mammals so affected would be the 
fox squirrels, flying squirrels, gray foxes, deer, racoon, and opossum.” 
(Hoffmeister, 1968.) 
Dr. G. N. Jones, who has identified 1,082 flowering plants in Allerton Park, 
estimates that “not less than 80% of the flora” or “800 to 900” of the 
