“Do we want ducks or don’t we?”
In the early 1900s, as Mississippi River backwaters were being drained en masse and converted to farmland, champions of nature were asking that question in earnest. Their mission: to keep migrating waterfowl, fish, and animals that depend
on Upper Mississippi River habitat from going the way of extinct or near-extinct species like the passenger pigeon or the American bison.
So, in 1922, Will Dilg, a Chicago businessman and obsessive sportsman who claimed to spend 60 days a year fishing the backwaters of the Upper Miss, founded the Izaak Walton League (named after the author of a book about fishing). The Izaak Walton League gave Dilg a bully pulpit which he used with aplomb. He moved to Washington DC and traveled around the country, holding mass meetings and founding League chapters to spearhead one of the most effective Congressional lobbying efforts in history.
His first line of attack was aimed at stopping the already approved, imminent drainage of some 13,000 acres called the Winneshiek bottoms, above McGregor, Iowa, calling it “The Drainage Crime of the Century.” Here, word for word, is part of his pitch, in the Izaak Walton League’s new publication, Monthly.
…“Think of the most beautiful lowlands your mind can picture. Dream of every kind of wild swamp flower, including the lotus beds … think of the rushes and the willows and the water trees and the wild grape vines, and above all the birds … if you love a swamp just as does every hunter and fisherman ever born, then you know just what I mean.”
But he wanted much, much more than to save Winneshiek bottoms. “These river lands are going to be drained all the way from Lake Pepin, Minn., to Rock Island, Illinois,” he wrote. “And when these river bottoms are once drained THEY ARE GONE FOREVER.” (his emphasis)
“Here mother nature has set down the greatest natural hatchery for game fishes in the whole world” … and “nowhere on this earth are there such natural feeding grounds for ducks, brant and geese. Here also are found every species of our
four-footed little animals, such as mink, muskrat, raccoon, skunk, squirrel, swamp rabbit, etc. and last but not least, every kind of songbirds by the countless thousands. … But it’s going to GO – it’s going to be destroyed.”
He commanded his fellow sportsmen to write President Warren G. Harding, demanding that the Upper Mississippi bottomlands be saved, closing their letters with “Yours for Outdoor America, signed …”
This monumental movement of citizens was successful in convincing Congress to create the largest ever US “wild-life preserve” – 261 miles of river and now 244,000 acres of wetland forests and swamp, protected 100 years ago, in 1924. It is the longest, most visited (by people and wildlife) of any refuge in the lower 48, and next-door-neighbor to three JDCF preserves. Save the date of August 23 for a performance of “A Visit from Will Dilg” by Steven Marking at the Galena Center for the Arts. Details on this in inspiring, one-man multi-media show to come.
So look for eblasts and information on our website about JDCF’s 2024 Refuge-themed programs. We are planning presentations on history, ecology, navigation, what the Refuge is today, and what it needs from us to thrive for another 100 years. There will also be experiences on the River itself. Altogether, this will be a year of discovery that you will long remember.
So save the dates! Join us May 10 for a presentation that continues the Refuge story to the present, including the ongoing balancing act to maintain this critical habitat in the face of commercial navigation interests and the erratic ravages of climate change. And join us on August 23rd for “A Visit From Will Dilg.” Dilg is portrayed in a multi-media performance by actor, musician, and American Cruise Lines favorite, Steven Marking. See “events” on this website for details on these and other programs.
