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books to young people. One of its current projects is the establishment of 
a Trailside Museum in Forest Park, St. Louis, with which local garden 
clubs are helping. The museum would have various kinds of nature exhi- 
bits and bird banding demonstrations. 
The Tropical Audubon Society, with headquarters in Miami, was re- 
ported upon by Mrs. Ruby Ruettger, who said one of its important pro- 
jects for the year is a nature workshop, free to teachers and leaders of 
nature groups of all kinds. The one sponsored last season had such a big 
response that it was unable to care for all the applicants. Teachers of the 
workshop were drawn from the faculty of the University of Miami. 
The need for aggressive leadership in a conservation organization such 
as the local Audubon societies was pointed up by Edward J. Whelen, newly 
elected president of the Brooklyn Bird Club. Whelen’s group has the con- 
servation problems of a big city — similar to those that beset Chicago. 
He reported on such problems as the filling-in of the marshes of Jamaica 
Bay, thus destroying the wildlife habitat of the area. He also spoke of hunt- 
ing on refuges of the area, in and out of season, with the tacit approval of 
local game wardens. He said that 15,000 ducks and large numbers of great 
blue herons and black-crowned night herons winter there and provide a 
target for illegal gunners. One of the Brooklyn Bird Club members took 
a photograph of the game warden hunting there himself, in his own blind. 
Whelen, an extremely hard working conservationist, hopes to do as 
much as possible to stop such practices. He agreed with Mohr and Mor- 
rison that hunting pressure is increasing everywhere, especially on the 
fringes of big cities, and is hard to hold back. In cases like the filling-in 
of Jamaica Bay (Illinois has dozens of situations like it) frequently all 
conservation organizations can do is to minimize the damage rather than 
stop it entirely, but it is a threat of which all such groups must be aware, 
Whelen said. 
A suggestion made by Morrison to another representative whose club 
is worried about disappearance of marshland might prove of use to many 
organizations. Morrison said that frequently such areas can be leased for 
a certain number of years at a low cost when buying the property might 
be prohibitive. With a strong wire fence around it and signs posted, a 
marsh will be comparatively safe for wildlife. 
Morrison gave other helpful advice to the delegates, and announced 
that the National Audubon Society is preparing a handbook for branches 
and affiliates that will describe projects these groups can undertake. 
Next year, 1951, will be the 100th anniversary of Audubon’s death, and 
the national society at the time he spoke was planning an Audubon Cen- 
tennial week for early in the year. 
Events throughout the year are expected to have national publicity, 
and it will be an ideal time for local societies to capitalize on this pub- 
licity for their own activities, he pointed out. 
Speaking of the organization of societies, he suggested that each club 
should have committee chairmen for membership, publicity, programs, 
field trips, education, and conservation, among others. The conservation 
chairman is especially important, he asserted, and part of his work might 
