Features
the interests of the future . . .
Tribune
SECTION B MEDFORD. OREGON. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1963 PAGES 1 to 8
Cfliftles Aire IFooaht iim CCoimsos oiimrll llimd
Industry Vies With Nature
Sports
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This scene shows part of the site for the proposed Prairie National Park in Pottawatomie county, near Manhat
tan, Kans. (UPI)
Where Buffalo Once Roamed
(Editor's not! Unknown to millions of Americans
who might on day have a vital interest in th outcome, a
fierc battl is raging in the heart of Kansas ovar cre
ation of a national park. On one side are thos who
believe it important to preserve a part of vanishing
America; on the other, those who would be driven from
their homes if the park became a reality. The author
of this dispatch, a UPI Washington reporter, spent much
of his childhood in the area.)
By NORMAN RUNNION
United Press International
Manhattan, Kan.-(UPH-The landmark known as Twin
Mounds in central Kansas has witnessed many notable
events in the long and colorful history ot the great
prairies. Buffalo roamed it, Indians camped on it, and
Steward L. Udall was kicked off it.
The man who gave the boot a verbal one to the
U. S. secretary of interior was cattle rancher Carl Bel
linger. A tall and lean frontiersman, with a small mus
tache and twinkling blue eyes, Bellinger was only doing
what came naturally to his ancestors a century ago
defending his rights against all comers.
Bellinger's father, in this same territory, saw a
Pawnee Indian war party moving by his house B6 years
ago. They passed west without stopping. Udall halted
awhile and, to 52-year-old Carl Bellinger, the secretary's
abrupt and explosive stroll on Twin Mounds a year ago
last Dec. 5 was far more dangerous than the Pawnee.
Preserve Part of Prairi
What Udall wanted then, and still seeks, is a Prairie
National Park on 57.000 acres of Pottawatomie county.
The idea is to preserve part of the vanishing prairie for
posterity. The hope is that Americans of future gen
erations may then be able tn see for themselves what
the great grasslands were like when their population
was the buffalo and the antelope.
What Bellinger wanted then, and still seeks, is to be
left alone. It is land that is his home and his livelihood,
as it is to Glen and Viola Dodge, to Dave Carlson, Earl
Moycr and a host of other ranchers who dwell in the
57,000 acres of proposed park.
A bill to create the park will be submitted to Con
gress. If it should pass, within a matter of a few years
the ranchers would be off their land, the fences and
man-made ponds removed, buffalo and antelope herds in
stalled, a road built and camp sites established out in
the hills.
Bill Died In Last Congress
A similar bill died in the last Congress, which set
up the Point Reyes Seashore National Park in Cali
fornia. One park per Congress usually is the rule. The
Issue of the prairie merely was postponed.
Sooner or later the Scnalors and Representatives
must deal with one of the stickiest national park dilem
mas in a long time. Unlike any other, this one would be
created on land that is 100 per cent privately owned.
To provide pleasure and history for the whole nation, it
would be necessary to bring chaos to the few.
Is it worth it? The ranchers ask.
No Doubt About Need
Udall has written: "We have no doubts about the
need for preservation of a representative section ot
illustrating an important part ot the country's heritage,
so that present and future generations may experience
and enjoy a sample of prairie as H existed during the
days of the Indians, early sctllcrs and emigrants "
To this Bellinger replies: "Dogaone it. I think it's just
a bureaucratic grab. They've just tried to run over us
rough-shod, just as if we don't count "
And there arc naturally, counter-arguments. William
Colvin. editor of the Manhattan Mercury, a daily with
a circulation of 9.500. played a leading role in getting
Interior Department to select this particular 57.000 acres
for the park.
View of Overall Problem
Colvin's view ol the overall problem is this: "I don't
see that the relocation of people is a really valid com
plaint.'' He adds: "It's a simple and inexorable ex
ample of progress "
Professor E. Raymond Hal n Kansas university, a
long-time advocate o( a prairie park, has the scientists
view of the need to preserve the prairie graces. He has
written: "Continued over-grazing just as completely
ruined this prairie in 50 years (or less) as plowing it
up in two successive years would have."
Disagreeing is Dave Carlson, president of the Twin
Mound Ranchers association, which represents the ma
jority feeling of the 101 families living in the park
area. Many, like Carlson, raise cattle.
Now in Better Condition
Carlson says the prairie grass now is in better con
dition than at any lime in years. The owners, he de
clares with conviction, know that the grass is their
salvation.
Mrs. Alice Radcr, who lives in Manhattan but who
owns 200 acres in the park area about five miles away,
muses about the tourists. "They're perfectly welcome to
camp on my properly," she says. "But once they run
into rattlers, chiggcrs, poison ivy and sand burrs, they'll
get right off."
Colvin, rubbing a hand through his crew-cut hair
while sitting in the Mercury's small office in downtown
Manhattan, takes note of the ranchers' criticism that
the 100-degree-plus midsummer Kansas heat will make
camping unbearable.
"Anyone who thinks the park service is going to put
a site on a hot hill has a hot head," he says, implying
the planners will seek cool streamside locations instead.
Land Surrounds Arguert
Surrounding all the arguers is the land itself.
There are stubby, mesa-like hills on which the sky
seems to hang; long stretches of gently waving grasses
that end abruptly by a Irec-shrouded creek: vistas of
sky from which erupt sudden and fierce summer storms.
It is dramatic, exciting country, at least to those who
love il. At the same time it could perhaps appear ordi
nary and unspectacular to those whose concept of a
national park is glacier-riven mountains, or steaming
geysers of awesome canyons.
As one rancher put it: "It's just a lot of grass and sky
and dinky little hills. We like it, but I'll bet tourists are
going to look at it and wish they hadn't left the super
highway." Revolt Against Methods
His fellow ranchers agree. But most of all, they
revolt against the so-called high-handed methods which
llicy say have left the ranchers out of the picture. They
first heard a park was to be established on their property
when they read about it in Bill Colvin's Mercury.
Supporting the concept of a prairie monument are
the National Park Service, the preservationists, and the
local businessmen.
The park service obviously has no ax to grind, lla
one aim is to preserve this minute parcel of Americana
which il is convinced may otherwise disappear.
The preservationists are equally detached. They have
been horrified by over grazing in the pasl and fear it
will destroy this land, too.
Claim They Have No Interests
The Manhattan business supporters claim I hey. loo.
have no vested interests except the good of all the
American, people who need parks. Yet they cannot help
mentioning, in the next breath, the down-to-earth ef
fects of an adjacent national park: Great local prestige
and thousands of families in cars looking or gas sta
tions, motels and restaurants.
All these factions prepared the scene for Udall when
he landed on Twin Mounds and found Carl Bellinger
waiting lor him
He had heard the secretary would inspect tiie park
site that day, and that no one had asked permission
lor him lo land on private property. "I thought, the
hell with you. you got no permission' Bellinger recalled "
Udell's Helicopter Lands
So he went to Twin Mounds, and Udall's helicopter
landed. "They thought I was there to welcome him,"
he said, smiling mischievously. "But I wasn't "
Persuasively and firmly, he ordered Udall to get off
because he was trespassing.
That was a battle won, but the war still is in progress.
Congress alone may have to decide whether the good
side is that of the park service, and the need to pre
serve the American heritage; or, that of the rights and
belirfs of g hardy group of men and women who ait
themselves n integral part of that heritage..
(Editor's note: The battle
between big industry and
conservationists has been
going hot and heavy since
the days of Theodore
R o o i r 1 1. Th latest
skirmish in the war is be
ing waged in Indiana, on
the shores of Lake Michi
gan, where industrialists
plan to build a steel mill
and nature lovers have
vowed to stop them. In the
following dispatch th In
diana news manager of
United Press International
tells the story of "The
Battle of the Dunes.")
By BOYD GILL
United Press International
Indianapolis, lnd. IUPU
The flora and fauna along
most of the sand dunes on
the southern tip of Lake
Michigan sleep in peaceful
hibernation these bleak
winter days while a battle
rages from Illinois to
Washington over whether
the shores shall be a large
Industrial complex or a na
ture haven.
But all is not silent in the
dunes. Giant machinery is
already clearing and pre
paring part of a 3.300-acre
tract in the heart of the
dunes for a $250 million
steel mill announced late
last year by Bethlehem
Steel company. It's going
upon a tract known In
naturalists as "undisturbed
since the beginning of geo
logical time."
While the machines claw
at the dunes, two sets of
stalwart citizens battle over
whether nature or man
shall prevail.
The "bailie of the dunes"
Is a fight between propo
nents of an Indiana deep
water port capable of han
dling ocean-g o i n g ships,
loading and unloading car
goes to and from Indiana's
factories and fields, and
hard-fighting people who
consider the unspoiled
dunes a vast, unmatched
natural treasure.
200 Floral Varieties
"The virgin dunes, for
esls and bogs contained in
these two units largely
owned by Bethlehem con
lain more than 2,000 floral
varieties, including plant
types native to the south
western United Stales, the
Arctic regions, tropical cli
mates and of our cast
coast." So says material
published by the Save the
Dunes Council Inc., the or
ganization through which
the nature lovers are fight
ing the port.
"Nowhere else is such 3
variety available for scien
tific study and education,"
according lo "Save The
Dunes." "At this place in
Ihe Dunes is perhaps the
greatest natural laboratory
on our continent."
Supporters of the port in
clude Gov. Matthew E.
Welsh, all five living for
mer Indiana governors rep
resenting both political
parties, both U.S. senators
from the Hoosier state and
10 of the state's 11 con
gressmen. While Indiana
Democrats and Republicans
once agreed only on such
issues as motherhood, they
now put forward a solid
front favoring a port' at
Burns Ditch, a narrow arti
ficial waterway which emp
ties into the lake in the
dunes area.
Approved for Feasibility
The port they want lo
built has been approved for
feasibility by the U. S.
Army corps of engineers.
But Indiana has been sty
mied in its bid for federal
approval and for allocation
of funds to help finance
the port construction.
The chief roadblock is
Sen. Paul H. Douglas, ID
Ill), who took up the cudg
els for the Save The Dunes
Council not long after It
was organized in 1953.
When it appeared there
was no chance lo block a
part somewhere in Indiana,
the Save The Dunes inter
ests proposed a tri-city
harbor in the populous
Gary-Hammond. T his is
where steel-making grew
in desolate country south
east of Chicago a half cen
tury ago into Ihe second
most populous country in
Indiana and the greatest
steel production center in
the nation.
Setback Announcement
Bethlehem's announce
ment of a huge mill to be
built on the opposite side
of the proposed port from
a $103 million plant Mid
west Steel Corp. built in
1959 was a setback to the
nature lovers. They had
contended all along there
was no tangible evidence
Bethlehem planned to
build there, even when the
big steel firm bought 4.000
acres and spent $6.5 million
for il.
Douglas' countered with
a proposed Senate bill to
obtain more than 9,000
acres of dune-lands, includ
ing the 2.200-acre Indiana
Dunes Slate park for a
national preserve.
Among the government
dignitaries whom Douglas
attracted to the dunes for
a first-hand look was Inte
rior Secretary Stewart
Udall. Udall seemed im
pressed by what he saw.
Washington delays held
up approval of the port and
Indiana, which previously
had set aside $2 million for
the purchase of land for the
harbor, girded itself lor the
possibility of financing the
construction of thc outer
harbor and breakwater it
self. Governor Welsh, a Demo
cral, with the backing of
Lt. Gov. Richard Risline, a
Republican, proposed creat
ing an economic develop
ment fund of $36 million.
Three-fourths of the fund
would be used to start con
struction of the port with
out federal aid.
Indiana port interests
wore a rut in the road be
tween Indianapolis and
Washington trying to per
suade the federal agencies
to speed up a decision on
economic aid.
Republicans backing the
port threw in a complaint
that the state was being
punished by the Kennedy
administration because In
diana gave Richard M.
Nixon a 250,000-voto ma
jority in the 1960 presi
dential race.
Legislature May Act
If Douglas intends to slop
industrial expansion cast
ward around the 42-mile In
diana perimeter of the lake,
he'll have to hurry. The In
diana legislature, now in
session, is likely to take
steps lo speed up Ihe port
so it can be used before
the decade runs out.
Even though the Save
The Dunes movement num
bers thousands of persons,
there is not much of a
ground roots drive In In
diana against the port. Too
many governmental and
political figures, hopeful of
seeing the Indiana economy
pick up strength to end a
lengthy lag,' are on the
port side.
Port backers point to the
Slate park which stretches
for about three miles along
the lakeshore and Imply
the conservationists ought
to be satisfied with that.
But the conservationists
want all or nothing.
Described by Naturalists
The prize the dunes
themselves have been de
scribed by naturalists since
the turn of the century as
"unique in North America
for geological and botani
cal contents." !
Desert cactus and Arctic
jackpine grow side by aide
with thousands of other
types of plants, some ex
tremely rare, within sight
of the great steel complex
of Gary. It is a bird watch
ers heaven.
Naturalists argue that
wastes and fumes from big
factories will choke out the
last vestiges of nature.
The shifting dunes and
their picturesque forma
tions would perish in a
maze of construction, say
the conservationists.
Indiana Spokesman
Chief Indiana spokesman
for the nature lovers is
Thomas E. Duslin, a Fort
Wayne public relations
man who fights the port in
terests with a sharp tongue
and unabated energy.
Dustin accuses politicians
and government officials
of being under the thumb
of the rich steel interests.
He contends that 97 per
cent of the benefits of a
public port would go to the
steel interests.
While Dustin lashes
Welsh, Risline and the
Hoosier delegation In Con
gress, the Indianans rail at
Douglas.
Using Shoreline Bill
The gist of port-minded
Hoosiers contention is that
Douglas is using his nation
al shoreline bill as a de
fense against encroachment
on the Illinois port busi
ness around Chicago; that
he is seeking to keep a
large recreational area lor
the benefit of his Chicago
constituents, or that he is
carrying on a harassment
campaign, because ot the
1960 election results.
A national park has been
considered in the dunea
area since just b e f o r
World War I. A port hai
been, talked about since
1929. But the two interests
never clashed openly until
alter the Army engineer!
in 1949 approved a survey
for a port and the conserva
tionists hastily organized
for the battle against it.
No end Is in sight.
svV
A
This li the Jit of tht dunei area in Indiana on the ihorei of Lak Michigan. (UPQ