12 T HOES A-U_ D U7BeOoNS V5 U lt Es ei ae 
these beautiful swallows so that they might come back next year to destroy 
more of Chicago’s insect pests. 
4885 Wabansia Avenue, Chicago 39 
Fl FI ft 
Dinosaur Monument Is Safe 
By PAut H. LOBIK 
HASTENING TO ADJOURN, the last Congress failed to act on a number of 
controversial bills which had been referred to committees for further study. 
And by these omissions, conservationists won some important victories in 
reverse. For one of the proposals which never came up for a vote was the 
Colorado River Basin Storage Project, which would have included the 
authority to build Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument. 
It is evident that the letters and protests of nature lovers and conserva- 
tion groups were in some measure successful in saving Echo Park. One ver- 
sion of the bill came up in the House of Representatives and was promptly 
pigeon-holed in committee. Another version came before the Senate, and 
this bill was strongly promoted by a number of Western senators, principal- 
ly those from Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho. However, several 
senators from the east, and one from California (where the Sierra Club has 
been in the vanguard of the fight to preserve our National Parks), were 
equally strong in their opposition. In the end, the Senate decided against 
bringing the bill out of committee, especially after the House had declined 
to act. 
This action represents a temporary victory at best, since the Western 
senators are certain to bring up the project again. So far, the President 
has shown an alarming inclination to go along with any proposal to 
whittle away our national resources. Conservation-minded citizens should 
be aware that this is no time to relax our vigilance in guarding the nation’s 
forests, water supplies, and wildlife. 
Another bill which failed by default was H. R. 4646, the Ellsworth Bill 
to permit exchange of lands needed for dam building projects for other 
lands in National Forests. The Stockmen’s Bill also failed; this is the pro- 
posal which would have permitted large cattle raisers of 'Western states to 
sell or pass on grazing privileges on Federal lands from one generation to 
the next, with little control from the present supervisory bodies (the U.S. 
Forest Service), and at negligible cost to the stockmen. It is to be expected 
that these bills will also be revived in the next Congress. 
If these events represent negative victories, then the failure of the bill to 
reform our Mining Laws represents a negative defeat. Since 1872, it has 
been possible for unscrupulous operators to claim mineral rights on 
National Forest lands, cut down the timber on the claim, ostensibly to work 
the “mine,” and then, after the trees are gone, to abandon the mine as 
