Peete Aree bt OrwNe (6 Url biel LN 7 
At the IAS Annual Meeting: 
AUDUBON LEADER PROPOSES COALITION 
AGAINST CROSS-WABASH WATERWAY 
bye JUDLLHFJIOY 
The Cross-Wabash Valley Water- 
way was among the four major na- 
tional boondoggles cited by Charles 
Callison, Executive Vice-President 
of the National Audubon Society, 
in his address to the annual meet- 
ing of the Illinois Audubon Society 
in late April in Mt. Vernon. 
Calling the proposed barge canal 
a “profligate scheme” which is an 
outrage against the environment, 
common sense and the American 
taxpayer, Callison urged all con- 
servationists to form a coalition 
to oppose the project. The Wabash 
River Waterway, which has been 
supported by members of the Wa- 
bash Valley Association in Illinois 
and Indiana, threatens to destroy 
Beall Woods Nature Preserve and 
many other natural areas along the 
Wabash and its tributaries, said 
Callison. 
The three other projects cited by 
the conservation leader are: The 
channelization of Arkansas’ Cache 
River, which would destroy 60,000 
acres of hardwood swamps. : The 
Mid-State Project on the Platte 
River, which would wipe out two- 
thirds of the nesting habitat of the 
sandhill crane in the U.S. The Gar- 
rison Diversion Project in North 
Dakota, a Bureau of Reclamation 
project which Callison said should 
“win first prize for engineering 
nonsense unmatched even by the 
Corps of Engineers.” 
The Garrison project can still be 
stopped, said Callison, as it is only 
10 per cent completed. If the $433 
million project is carried out, it 
will destroy seven major national 
wildlife refuges and wipe out some 
of the finest nesting grounds of the 
beleagured canvasback duck. 
Callison also urged conservation- 
ists to write their congressmann to 
support House Bill 11500, which 
provides federal regulations for 
strip mining. A strong bill has al- 
ready passed the Senate, he said; 
however, the House Bill may be 
weakened by amendments favored 
by strip mining interests. 
Other environmental issues em- 
phasized by Callison were the de- 
fense of scenic rivers and wilder- 
ness areas, and the opposition to 
river channelization projects by the 
Soil Conservation Service and the 
Corps of Engineers. “I urge you to 
step up your resistance,” said Calli- 
son, “‘to these projects which turn 
natural streams into drainage 
ditches.” 
Callison observed certain busi- 
ness interests were now “trying to 
fake an environmental backlash’’ 
in order to weaken laws designed 
to protect environmental quality. 
“Don’t be fooled by oil companies 
trying to shift the blame,” he said, 
“there is no such thing.” 
Citing a Gallup poll taken dur- 
ing the oil shortage, Callison said: 
“Americans are not to be taken for 
chumps.” The pollsters found that 
25 per cent of the public blamed 
the federal government, 16 per cent 
thought consumer waste was re- 
sponsible, and only 2 per cent 
blamed environmentalists. 
Callison said the National Audu- 
bon Society has just experienced 
its most rapid period of member- 
ship growth in the past five months; 
