This Day in History: 1965-06-04
The Fyke Nature Association donated $200 to the Nature Conservancy to help save the prairie chicken. This sum was enough for the Washington DC environmental group to purchase 1 1/2 acres of land in Texas used by the threatened birds as a breeding ground. Only about 1,000 of the Attwater Prairie Chickens were left, all in Texas. At one time they were prolific in New Jersey but had been eliminated in the east by the destruction of their breeding grounds. The Nature Conservancy was attempting to buy 2,500 acres in Colorado County, Texas. About one third of the needed $365,000 had been raised. In 1964 the local wildlife group had given $100 to help preserve The Great Swamp in Morris County, New Jersey. (Bristow)