2 THE AUDUBON BU ll hei 
is credited with breaking down the 
hostility between hunting clubs and 
Audubon clubs; now there is far 
more cooperation on the conserva- 
tion scene in Illinois than before 
the creation of the NRCI. (In the 
forthcoming meeting at the Holi- 
day Inn at Joliet on Oct: 17, 18, 
1970, the NRCI bylaws will be 
modified, thus creating a new-type 
“coordinating council of conserva- 
tion clubs.” This will serve to make 
the conservation movement far 
more effective in this state than it 
has ever been before. Everyone is 
invited to attend this conference.) 
The creation of the NRCI led to 
the quick passage of the amended 
game code, giving protection to all 
hawks and owls in Illinois (we 
were pioneers in this special pro- 
tection in Illinois). No opposition 
from hunting clubs blocked this 
attitude, and we had their coopera- 
tion, instead of hostility. A year 
later, Elton Fawks, Joe Galbreath, 
Dr. Harlow Mills and I were able to 
lay the founding of another coali- 
tion, this time for the protection 
of the prairie grouse. The Illinois 
Audubon Society, the Nature Con- 
servancy, the Illinois Federation 
of Sportsmen’s Clubs, and the Izaak 
Walton League formed the Prairie 
Chicken Foundation of Illinois. My 
interest in the preservation of the 
prairie grouse lay in the several 
articles I had seen in the Audubon 
BULLETIN. Despite the articles, 
not a single ornithologist or scien- 
tist or bird-watcher had moved to 
save this declining species. With 
our experience in the NRCI, we 
were able to create this new group 
in 1959. Now the PCFI owns 295 
acres of land, and its existence 
stimulated the Nature Conservancy 
to establish its own Prairie Grouse 
Committee which has raised fu 
for the purchase of additic 
lands. 
The year 1954 was a memorz 
year for conservation. This was 
year that Secretary of the Inte 
Douglas McKay, under Presid 
Dwight Eisenhower, tried to p 
thru the Dinosaur Dam in C 
rado. It aroused the nationwide 
of conservationists. His adminis‘ 
tion became so intolerable that ] 
Kay was forced to retire and - 
for the Senate seat from Oreg 
where he lost to a conservati 
minded candidate. 
Since that time, we have fou 
many conservation battles, far 
many to list here, but we have b 
delighted to see the passage of 
Indiana Dunes National Lakesh 
a park for which our esteemed { 
mer president, Dr. R. M. Strc 
battled for a half-century. We v 
nessed the establishment of C 
Cod, Point Reyes, Fire Isla 
Padre Island, and North Casca 
National Parks. 
Conservation has not been 
only concern. Over the years, 
have seen the establishment of 
Audubon Newsletter, and the 
pansion of the Audubon BULI 
TIN. The Newsletter started in 1 
with Mrs. M. G. Ericson as 
editor. It has grown in style : 
content, until it now ranks ami 
the best Audubon Newsletters 
the nation. When I first became 
quainted with the Audubon Bl 
LETIN, it was a mere 16 pas 
with an almost Victorian style. 
evolved under Editors Paul | 
Lobik and Bill Bennett to an © 
citing quarterly of articles on o1 
thology, conservation news, ¢ 
environmental issues, plus an — 
panded book review section. 
