Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-07-25

~HICAGO, ILL.,, July ia Chicagoan
I may now camp in an unspoiled wilder
~ ness of woodland where there are on
fences or posted lands where wild life is
abundant and still be close enough to the
city to come to his work every morning in
his machine or even on street car.
The people of Chicago, as part of their
great scheme of city development, have put
aside all of the timbered areas in Cook
county as permanent forest preserves to
serve as summer Fairgrounds. These areas
they have stocked with game and fish. camp
sites have been established. roads and paths
built. The forests are open to the public
at all times for camping, picnicking and
hiking. They are in no sense parks, but
are real bits of wilderness. The total area
of forest is over fourteen thousand acres.
and several of the tracts are large enough
and wild enough to be used for purposes of
getting lost.
Chicago has thus improved an opportunity
which other cities are neglecting. Within
twenty miles of many American cities there
are large timbered areas, which, for one
reason another, have escaped the saw
mill and the plow. AS population increases,
these areas slowly decrease. In another
generation, unless they are saved by law,
they will be gone. Chicago has been far
sighted enough to save her nearby wood
lands before it was too late.
There are half a dozen of these forests
within Cook county They comprise the
forest preserve district of Cook county but
are administered under a municipal code,
and belong to the city just as much as does
Lincoln park. Two of them, the Palos and
the Palatine, are nearly square areas of
timber on high ground. The others are
long narrow strips of timber in the valleys
of the North river, the Desplaines river and
Salt creek. The most distant is about
twenty miles from the city limits, while the
nearest may be reached on the street car
for a f1ve-cent fare. system of roads
has been planned which will make it easy
to reach any of the forests by automobile
while it is believed that the traction COM
panies will rapidly extend their lines toward
these Fairgrounds. The lands bordering
upon them are expected to become the
city's most desirable suburban sections.
There are many spots of great natural
beauty in these wilds of the city of Chi
cago. Some of the forest lands have never
felt the ak. A maple tree four feet in
diameter was recently reported by the chief
forester.
These forests are a splendid natural
refuge for wild life Strangely enough, the
most abundant game of the section is the
monaghan pheasant while the Hungarian
partridge comes next. These beautiful
otics escaped years ago from a great game
farm near Chicago, and became SO abundant
within ten or fifteen miles of the city that
they have been furnishing good sport.
Hunting is prohibited on the city forest
areas, and these will serve as game reser-
voirs to stock the surrounding country, so
that Chicago sportsmen will probably find
more game near home than those of many
smaller cities. Rabbits and squirrels are
also abundant in the city forests and
increasing under protection. The board Of
forest preserve commissioners has imported
large supply of quail from Texas and
turned them loose in the forests, while there
is even a herd of deer upon one of the
areas. All wild life within the forests is
now protected, but it is expected that a
short season for hunting may be allowed
when the game has become sufficiently abun-
dant Pheasants were SO plentiful last year
on parts of the forests that some hunters
could not resist the temptation which they
offered and a special warden had to be
detailed to enforce the law against hunting.