16 THE A.D D.U0°E 0 Nees Ue eerie 
Conservation Notes and News 
By Dr. R. M. STRONG 
Burns Ditch Harbor Proposal. On October 6, Mr. George F. Ingalls, 
Regional Director of Land and Recreational Planning, Region Two, U. S. 
National Park Service, came from his office in Omaha to make a third in- 
spection of the dunes region between Ogden Dunes and Dune Acres. This 
time, I was able to accompany him. Mrs. Alfred Pilz sent her son with a 
jeep so that we were able to cover a large amount of territory in one day. 
The jeep took us up the steep sides of dunes, and it travelled at about 
twenty miles an hour most of the time, except when we stopped to examine 
special areas or to see interesting objects. 
Mr. Floyd Swink was with us, and he was most helpful with his fine 
knowledge of the flora and ecology of the region. A fifth member of the 
party was Mr. Harold Youngren of Chesterton, who is a devoted member of 
the Indiana Dunes Preservation Council. He was a good guide. Mr. C. W. 
Bauman entertained us at luncheon. He has been one of the most active and 
effective promoters of the effort to try to save the dunes in this region. 
It is understood that the National Park Service will make its report in 
January to the Bureau of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors regarding the 
recreational and natural history values of this region. If the decision of the 
army engineers is against the harbor proposal, we shall still have the 
formidable financial problem of acquiring the land in order to preserve the 
area as a dunes park. We have not been able to get even an approximate 
estimate of what this would cost. 
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The Trumpeter Swan. According to the latest census of the rare trump- 
eter swan, there has been a most encouraging increase in its population. 
The Fish and Wildlife Service reports 585 of the birds in the Red Rock 
Lakes Sanctuary in southwestern Montana and in Yellowstone National 
Park and the nearby National Elk Refuge. Vigorous efforts to prevent the 
extermination of these birds appear to be succeeding. The known population 
in 1985 was only 73. 
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Federal Refuges. There are now 282 Federal U. S. Refuges, totaling 
some eighteen million acres, many of which are inviolate. The first official 
refuge was established in California in 1870, and the next in Indiana in 
1900. The Federal system started in 1903 with a proclamation by President 
Theodore Roosevelt establishing a sanctuary at Pelican Island in the Indian 
River, Florida. Canada has 80 bird sanctuaries which were established 
under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. 
Though we seem to have a large acreage of refuge territory, there is 
need for more refuges. More breeding grounds in the northern states are 
also needed for ducks and geese. There has been a great increase in the 
number of hunters with a corresponding decrease in the populations of ducks 
and geese. 
5716 S. Stony Island Ave., Chicago 
