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Conservation Notes and News 
By Dr. R. M. STRONG 
WoopED ISLAND IN JACKSON PARK. Wooded Island in Jackson Park, Chicago, 
is famous with bird watchers not only in Chicago, but nationally. One hears 
often of visitors to Chicago, with a little time to spare, who go out to 
Wooded Island to study birds there. A writer in the November number of 
Nature Magazine described beautifully the charm of Wooded Island and her 
experiences during a single visit to see birds. During the years 1904 to 1914, 
when I gave a course in ornithology at the University of Chicago, I took my 
classes to Wooded Island four times a week in the early morning for periods 
of one and one half hours through April and May. There were always 
enough birds to keep us busy. 
In January, I learned that the Chicago Park District was considering a 
plan to fill the west lagoon which lies along the west side of Wooded Island. 
This was explained as due to a desire for more land by the division of 
recreation which is concerned especially with sports. I wrote a “letter to 
the editor” in protest to the Chicago Daily News, which was published 
March 15. Later, we learned through the press and the radio that the U.S. 
Army had made an agreement with the Chicago Park District to pay 
$100,000 towards filling the lagoon, in return for which the Army was to 
occupy Wooded Island as a base for guided missiles to defend the city 
against possible atom bomb attacks. 
Many people who have enjoyed the trees, flowers, birds and other attrac- 
tions of Wooded Island were dismayed by this news. As a result of many 
letters and phone calls, there was a hearing in the office of the Superin- 
tendent of the Chicago Park District, Mr. George T. Donohue. This was 
attended by three representatives of the army and four members of the 
park staff. Also present were leaders in civic affairs of the region near 
Jackson Park. They pointed out the great loss in cultural values which the 
army plan for the park involved. It was also noted that filling the west 
lagoon would destroy much of the cultural value of Wooded Island. It 
would no longer be an island with its present seclusion. The army repre- 
sentatives took our protest under advisement. We have not yet heard 
whether the army plan will be changed. 
Ep. Note: As this issue of the BULLETIN went to press, Dr. Strong tele- 
phoned to say that he had just received a letter from the Hon. Paul Douglas, 
U.S. Senator from Illinois, stating: “The U.S. Army has abandoned its 
plan to occupy Wooded Island in Jackson Park as a guided missile base. 
Alternate sites will be studied.” This is good news for all members of the 
Society. While Senator Douglas has previously expressed opposition to 
Wooded Island and Dinosaur Dam projects, it is not known at this writing 
whether he actually interceded in this instance. However, it is certain that 
the many letters from conservationists in Illinois, as well as the public 
protest meetings by neighborhood groups near Jackson Park, were of some 
effect in inducing the U.S. Army to change its mind. 
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