14 THY? A USDS0: BeOgN] 2850 sel a aie 
Conservation Notes and News 
By Dr. R. M. STRONG 
BuRNs Dircu Harpor PROPOSAL: The Conservation Council devoted the 
entire program of its meeting on January 17 to consideration of preser- 
vation of the Indiana Dunes between Ogden Dunes and Dune Acres. Mr. 
Floyd Swink, Dr. V. O. Graham, and Mr. Karl Schmidt were the principal 
speakers, but a number of persons participated in the discussion. There 
was much consideration of the financial problem involved in acquiring 
the area, and various suggestions were made. We believe these dunes 
can be purchased if there is enough interest by the public, although this 
involves much educational work. All readers of this article are urged to 
help in promoting the program. 
The establishment of the Indiana Dunes State Park in 1923 was the 
result of an elaborate program over several years in which many persons 
participated. These included two Indiana Governors and two Indiana 
senators. 
On October 30, 1916, there was a hearing in Chicago which lasted an 
entire day. It was attended by many prominent people including the head 
of the department of geology at the University of Chicago, Prof. T. C. 
Chamberlin, Professors Otis C. Caldwell and Henry C. Cowles of the 
department of botany, Mr. Abraham Flexner, secretary of the Board of 
Education of the City of New York, and Mr. Julius Rosenwald of Chicago. 
The director of the National Park Service, Mr. Stephen T. Mather, 
presided at this hearing, which was the result of a Congressional resolution 
introduced by an Indiana senator, Hon. Thomas Taggart. After the hear- 
ing, the Secretary of the U. S. Department of the Interior Hon. Franklin 
K. Lane, recommended that fifteen square miles of the dune region between 
Gary and Michigan City be purchased for a national park. Unfortunately, 
World War I diverted attention of Congress away from the project, and 
there was a difficulty about establishing a precedent for purchasing 
national park lands. 
In the December number of the Audubon Bulletin, I stated that it was 
expected that the National Park Service would report in January, 1952, 
to the Bureau of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, on its recreational 
and natural history survey of the region. This report has been delayed 
because the army engineers are not ready to consider it. Meanwhile, it is 
desirable that letters be sent to either Mr. George F. Ingalls, regional 
director of recreation and land planning, who made the survey, or to 
Mr. Howard W. Baker, regional director of the National Park Service. 
Both men may be addressed at National Park Service, Omaha 2, Neb. 
It is not clear at present just what kind of a preserve it would be most 
feasible to obtain and maintain. The National Park Service has no money 
to buy the land, and it is not certain that it would accept the area even 
though purchased privately. It might be better to try to obtain an ex- 
tension of the present Indiana Dunes State Park. Of course there must be 
some agency to control and maintain it. 
5716 S. Stony Island Avenue, Chicago 
