6 T HOE? VA;UD"U_B ONS 3B LU Di 
be to create a better understanding generally of the ecology of the area — 
how the plants and animals live together and are mutually dependent on 
each other. 
Morrison spoke of the Audubon Newsletter, which goes out monthly to 
each branch and affiliate, and said the national society believes something 
beyond it is needed to tell what groups all over the United States are doing 
and provide for an exchange of ideas. (A page of the Audubon Magazine 
under Morrison’s direction was devoted to this for a while, when Morrison 
was the national society’s Minnesota representative. He had to give it up 
when he took over as editor of the magazine.) 
The National Audubon Society is eager to enroll all local Audubon 
societies as branches and affiliates. The Illinois society is neither. Under 
this plan, each member of the local group pays $5 annually, and becomes a 
member both of the local and national society for that fee, receiving the 
Audubon Magazine as well. The local club, in turn, gets $1.25 of this $5. 
All billing is done by national, which also sends out literature to prospects 
and performs other services. The local group retains complete independence, 
however. The fee charged may be more than $5 if desired, in which case 
the local group would get more than $1.25 back, of course. 
This is a question that has been brought before the Illinois society 
many times. A big stumbling block is the fact that the Illinois group could 
not operate on $1.25 per member, as it costs more than that each year to 
finance the quarterly Bulletin, and it must pay for the screen tours as well 
as other incidental expenses. 
It would hardly seem feasible to try to charge more than $5 a year for 
a dual membership, so the Illinois society would have either to cut down 
drastically on the Bulletin (costs of which have risen) or find some way 
of raising money other than dues. 
On the last evening of our stay, John H. Baker, president of the 
National Audubon Society, came out for dinner and addressed us. He. told 
principally of the work and aims of the national society, and reported on 
some of the national conservation problems in which it is interested, in- 
cluding the bill to protect the bald eagle in Alaska, the protection of the 
California condor’s nesting area, and the fate of Dinosaur National Monu- 
ment, in which the bureau of reclamation plans two power dams. 
Speaking of Dinosaur and the various national parks, which are con- 
stantly besieged by persons who want to build dams, graze sheep, or other- 
wise damage them, Baker asserted that it is an important fight for every- 
one to preserve what little segments of wilderness we have left in the 
United States. 
He compared these areas to Central Park in New York, and asked his — 
audience to imagine what would happen if the park land were opened to 
builders and the park destroyed. The park as it stands is of tremendous 
recreational value to New Yorkers, far outweighing the value it would 
have as tax-producing property with buildings on it. 
Baker contended that the same situation exists nationally, as our 
wilderness areas are destroyed, dammed, ditched, and drained. Once they 
