The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-07-22

Chicago, July PA Chicagoan may
now camp in an unspoiled wilderness of
woodland where there are no fences or
posted lands, where wild life is album
dant, 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 a 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 play
grounds. 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 $4,000 acres.
and several of the tracts are large
enough and wild enough to be used for
purposes of getting lost.
Improved Opportunity.
Chicago has thus improved an oppor-
tunity which other cities are neglecting.
Within twenty miles of many American
cities there are large timbered areas,
which. for one reason or another, have
escaped the sawmill 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 farsighted
enough to save her nearby woodlands
before it was too late.
There are half a dozen Of these for
ests within Cook county. They COM
prise the forest preserve district OF
der a municipal code. and belong to the
city just as much as does Lincoln park.
Two of them, the Palos and the Pala-
tine, are nearly square areas OF timber
on high ground. The others are long.
narrow strips of timber in the valleys OF
Al. ,t.v. h. M. NIoix x.iN
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 scent fare. A syS-
TEN of roads has been planned which
will make it easy to reach any Of the
forests by automobile, while 1t is be-
lieved that the traction companies 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 wids of the city OF
Chicago. Some of the forest lands have
never felt the axe. A maple tree four
feet in diameter was recently reported
by the chief forester.
Natural Refuge.
These forests are splendid natural
refuge for wild life. Strangely enough,
the most abundant game of the section
is the Monaghan pheasant, while the
Hungarian partridge comes nexth These
beautiful exotics escaped years ago from
a great game farm near Chicago. and
became so abundant within ten or fif-
teen 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 reservoirs
to stock the surrounding country, so
that Chicago sportsmen will probably
find more game near home than those
of many smaller cities. Rabbits and
squirrel are also abundant in the city
forests and are increa sing under pro-
lection. The board of forest preserve
commissioners has imported a 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 projected, but it is expected that
q short open season for hunting may
be allowed when the game has become
sufficiently abundant Pheasants were so
plentiful last year on parts of the for
ests that some hunters could not re-
sist the temptation which they offered:
and a special warden had to be detailed
ito enforce the law against hunting.
Artificial Lake.
On the Palatine an artificial lake has