20 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
A Conference on Mosquito Abatement 
By Jesse L. SMITH 
The campaign for mosquito abatement in areas about Chicago has 
been viewed with some apprehension by nature lovers generally. It seems 
that the work as often carried out has involved the destruction of beauty 
spots and the driving off of wild life from its native haunts. Drastic 
methods of drainage have often been followed without reference to ulti- 
mate consequences. Secluded areas which afforded homes for wild fowl 
have been opened up, the natural shelter stripped away, and through drain- 
age and spraying of oil the areas made desolate. Blackened roadsides and 
burned spots in marshes and low meadows marked the work of the sprayer. 
Fair-minded observers report that as this work has progressed (it is now 
in its third year) the destructive zeal which seemed to characterize much 
of it at first has decidedly abated and is giving way to more enlightened 
methods. Disquieting reports of destruction of bird life continue to come 
in, however, and during the past year appeals have been made to the Audu- 
bon Society to make a study of the situation. 
It should be explained that the work of mosquito abatement is carried 
on in certain specific districts organized under the provisions of a law 
passed by the legislature of the state of Illinois in 1927. The board of 
trustees of such districts are clothed with power “to take all necessary or 
proper steps for the extermination of mosquitoes, flies or other insects within 
the district, and subject to the paramount control of the municipal or other 
authorities, to abate as nuisances all stagnant pools of water and other 
breeding places for mosquitoes, flies or other insects within the district,”’ 
etc. At this time there are three mosquito abatement districts in the Chi- 
cago area, the Des Plaines Valley district, the North Shore district, and 
the Lake Forest district, and other districts are contemplated. Each of the 
districts as organized includes marshy areas within its boundaries, but there 
are artificial conditions due to sewage disposal which vastly contribute to 
the propagation of mosquitoes. The seriousness of the situation amply 
justifies some form of abatement of the pest. In the belief that a study of 
the methods employed in the work might reveal the effectiveness of control 
methods which neither disfigure the landscape nor radically change its 
fitness for its native flora and fauna, the directors of the Audubon Society 
decided to invite to a conference the officials of the abatement districts 
mentioned. ‘his conference, held at the City Club in Chicago on Decem- 
ber 1, 1930, was interesting and valuable in many ways. As guests of the 
Audubon Society there were present Jens Jensen, president of the Friends 
of Our Native Landscape; Mrs. Charles B. Cory, president of the Illinois 
Chapter of the Wild Flower Preservation Society, and representatives of 
the mosquito abatement districts, including Dr. Spencer Fuller, president 
