24 TH BE AsU:DiU BON 5B Ute ees 
WHAT IS A CONSERVATIONIST? 
What is a conservationist? A little old lady in tennis 
shoes? I think not. A _ butterfly catcher? Winston 
Churchill, one of the great statesmen of our time, paid 
an entomologist each year to release and flood his 
garden with butterflies. Webster’s dictionary says, “a 
conservationist is one who advocates conservation of 
the natural resources of his (or her) country.” 
A conservationist is one who feels a stab of a knife 
wound when a beautiful stand of woods is bulldozed 
down to make room for a real estate development or 
a new highway, or a shopping center; who feels a 
certain agony to see a lovely, wooded hillside enclosing 
a living stream, covered with the refuse of civilization; 
who feels a nausea and revulsion watching the raw- 
sewage pollution or oil wastes from a factory pouring 
unchecked into a fresh water lake or stream; who feels 
a great sadness to see a field where wildflowers grew 
and horned larks nested, covered with cement for 
another cut-rate chain store; who bleeds a little when 
wetlands are drained and rubbish-filled for land develop- 
ment; who dies a little every time another species of 
bird or animal becomes extinct. 
A conservationist is one who is willing and happy to 
give his time, energy, money, go anywhere at any time 
for love of and to help save the ecology of his country. 
A conservationist does not ask himself, “How much 
can I make out of that?” He knows that if we protect 
our heritage from waste and pollution there will be 
enough for all—and for future generations. 
—Alice Palmer 
R. M. Barron To Retire As Press Secretary 
For several years now, the Illinois Audubon Society has been seen in pr. 
in more newspapers in the state than it has in the whole previous histc 
of the organization. The name has gone out over the radio in scores 
communities, hundreds of times. This has been due primarily to the effo 
of Volunteer Press Secretary R. M. Barron, a retired journalist. 
He not only wrote and composed the releases, he folded and stuft 
them into envelopes, addressed them to 200 newspapers across the sta 
and kept an up-to-date file of daily and weekly newspapers. Having ni 
reached the age of 75, Mr. Barron indicated he would like to “retire” a 
has offered his resignation as of May 1. 
President Raymond Mostek, upon learning of Mr. Barron’s intentio 
said that “Mr. Barron’s performance has been noble, remarkable and ov 
standing. His cooperation and his willingness to help stand as pricel: 
example for every member of this society. We shall miss his assistance mi 
profoundly.” 
Mrs. Michelle Klaus of Carbondale will continue to work as an “Assi: 
ant Volunteer Press Secretary.” Anyone who likes to write, and can tu: 
out a half-dozen press release notices a year, should contact the Illin: 
Audubon Society, 1017 Burlington Ave., Downers Grove, Ill. 60515. No 
help is needed. i 
