Chapter 257. To more effectively meet the obligations of the United States under the migratory bird treaty with Great Britain by lessening the dangers threatening migratory game birds from drainage and other causes, by the acquisition of areas of land and of water to furnish in perpetuity reservations for the ad
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Chap. 257: To more effectively meet the obligations of the United States under the migratory bird treaty with Great Britain by lessening the dangers threatening migratory game birds from drainage and other causes, by the acquisition of areas of land and of water to furnish in perpetuity reservations for the adequate protection of such birds; and authorizing appropriations for the establishment of such areas, their maintenance and improvement, and for other purposes. Chapter 257 45 Stat. 1222 1929-02-18 United States Government Publishing Office text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
Digitization Vendor 2025-01-24 70 2 public Chapter 257.— An Act To more effectively meet the obligations of the United States under the migratory bird treaty with Great Britain by lessening the dangers threatening migratory game birds from drainage and other causes, by the acquisition of areas of land and of water to furnish in perpetuity reservations for the adequate protection of such birds; and authorizing appropriations for the establishment of such areas, their maintenance and improvement, and for other purposes.
February 18, 1929.[[S. 1271](/us/bill/70/s/1271).][[Public, No. 770](/us/pl/70/770).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Migratory Bird Conservation Act. That this Act shall be known by the short title of “Migratory Bird Conservation Act.” Sec. 2. Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, created.That a commission to be known as the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, consisting of the Secretary of Agriculture, as chairman, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Composition and authority.Interior, and two Members of the Senate, to be selected by the President of the Senate, and two Members of the House of Representatives to be selected by the Speaker, is hereby created and 1223authorized to consider and pass upon any area of land, water, or land and water that may be recommended by the Secretary of Agriculture for purchase or rental under this Act, and to fix the price or prices at which such area may be purchased or rented; and no purchase or rental shall be made of any such area until it has been duly approved for purchase or rental by said commission.
Any Member of the House of Representatives who is a member of the commission, if reelected to the succeeding Congress, may serve on the commission notwithstanding the expiration of a Congress. Any vacancy on the commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. The ranking officer Ex officio members from the States.of the branch or department of a State to which is committed the administration of its game laws, or his authorized representative, and in a State having no such branch or department, the governor thereof, or his authorized representative, shall be a member ex officio of said commission for the purpose of considering and voting on all questions relating to the acquisition, under this Act, of areas in his State.
Sec. 3. That the commission hereby created shall, through itsAnnual detailed report to Congress. chairman, annually report in detail to Congress, not later than the first Monday in December, the operations of the commission during the preceding fiscal year. Sec. 4. That the Secretary of Agriculture shall recommendAreas necessary for conservation of birds to be procured. no area for purchase or rental under the terms of this Act except such as he shall determine is necessary for the conservation of migratory game birds.
Sec. 5. That the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized Purchase or rent of areas approved by the Commission for sanctuaries for migratory birds.to purchase or rent such areas as have been approved for purchase or rental by the commission, at the price or prices fixed by said commission, and to acquire by gift or devise, for use as inviolate sanctuaries for migratory birds, areas which he shall determine to be suitable for such purposes, and to pay the purchase or rental price and expenses incident to the location, examination, and survey of such areas and the acquisition of title thereto, including options when deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture,*Proviso*.Use of military lands forbidden. from moneys to be appropriated hereunder by Congress from time to time: *Provided, *That no lands acquired, held, or used by the United States for military purposes shall be subject to any of the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 6. That the Secretary of Agriculture may do all thingsSafe title to be secured of acquired areas. and make all expenditures necessary to secure the safe title in the United States to the areas which may be acquired under this Act, but no payment shall be made for any such areas until the title thereto shall be satisfactory to the Attorney General, but the acquisition of such areas by the United States shall in no case be defeated because of rights of way, easements, andRights of way, etc., provision. reservations which from their nature will in the opinion of the Secretary of Agriculture in no manner interfere with the use of the areas so encumbered for the purposes of this Act; but such rights of way, easements, and reservations retained by the grantor or lessor, from whom the United States receives title, shall be subject to rules and regulations prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of Agriculture for the occupation, use, operation, protection, and administration of such areas as inviolate sanctuaries for migratory birds; and it shall be expressed in the deed or lease that the use, occupation, and operation of such rights of way, easements, and reservations shall be subordinate to and subject to such rules and regulations.
Sec. 7. That no deed or instrument of conveyance shall be acceptedConsent of State required. by the Secretary of Agriculture under this Act unless the State in which the area lies shall have consented by law to the acquisition by the United States of lands in that State. 1224 Sec. 8. State jurisdiction not affected except for Federal offenses.That the jurisdiction of the State, both civil and criminal, over persons upon areas acquired under this Act shall not be affected or changed by reason of their acquisition and administration by the United States as migratory bird reservations, except so far as the punishment of offenses against the United States is concerned.
Sec. 9. State game laws not interfered with.That nothing in this Act is intended to interfere with the operation of the game laws of the several States applying to migratory game birds in so far as they do not permit what is forbidden by Federal law. Sec. 10. Specified acts affecting property, etc., of game refuges forbidden.That no person shall knowingly disturb, injure, or destroy any notice, signboard, fence, building, ditch, dam, dike embankment, flume, spillway, or other improvement or property of the United States on any area acquired under this Act, or cut, burn, or destroy any timber, grass, or other natural growth, on said area or on any area of the United States which heretofore has been or which hereafter may be set apart or reserved for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a game refuge or as a preserve or reservation and breeding ground for native birds, under any law proclamation, or Executive order, or occupy or use any part thereof, or enter thereon for any purpose, except in accordance with regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture; nor shall any person take any bird, or nest or egg thereof on any area acquired under this Act, except for scientific or propagating purposes under permit of the Secretary of Legal fishing not prevented.Agriculture; but nothing in this Act or in any regulation thereunder shall be construed to prevent a person from entering upon any area acquired under this Act for the purpose of fishing in accordance with *Proviso*.Compliance with regulation.the law of the State in which such area is located: *Provided,* That such person complies with the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture covering such area.
Sec. 11. Migratory birds defined.Vol. 39, p. 1702.That for the purposes of this Act, migratory birds are those defined as such by the treaty between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds concluded August 16, 1916. Sec. 12. Amounts authorized for all expenses.*Ante*, p. 1209.*Post*, p. 1634.For the acquisition, including the location, examination, and survey, of suitable areas of land, water, or land and water, for use as migratory bird reservations, and necessary expenses incident thereto, and for the administration, maintenance, and development of such areas and other preserves, reservations, or breeding grounds frequented by migratory game birds and under the administration of the Secretary of Agriculture, including the construction of dams, dikes, ditches, flumes, spillways, buildings, and other necessary improvements, and for the elimination of the loss of migratory birds from alkali poisoning, oil pollution of waters, or other causes, for cooperation with local authorities in wild life conservation, for investigations and publications relating to North American birds, for personal services, printing, engraving, and issuance of circulars, posters, and other necessary matter and for the enforcement of the provisions of this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated, in addition to Yearly allotments.all other amounts authorized by law to be appropriated, the following amounts for the fiscal years specified— $75,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1930; $200,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1931; $600,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1932; $1,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1933; $1,000,000 for each fiscal year thereafter for a period of six years; and For fiscal year 1940, and thereafter.Amount for administration, etc., expenses yearly.$200,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940, and for each fiscal year thereafter.
Not more than 20 per centum of the amounts appropriated pursuant to this authorization for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1930, and for each fiscal year to and including the 1225fiscal year ending June 30, 1939, shall be expended for personal services in the District of Columbia and elsewhere incident to the administration and maintenance of acquired areas, printing, engraving, and issuance of circulars and posters. No part of anyPayments only to reservation protectors. appropriation authorized by this section shall be used for payment of the salary, compensation, or expenses of any United States game protector, except reservation protectors for the administration, maintenance, and protection of such reservations and the birds thereon: *Provided*, That reservation protectors appointed under*Proviso*.Selection of citizens of the States for protectors.Authority of Secretary of Agriculture. the provisions of this Act shall be selected, when practicable, from qualified citizens of the State in which they are to be employed.
The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to make such expenditures and to employ such means, including personal services in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, as may be necessary to carry out the foregoing objects. Sec. 13. That for the efficient execution of this Act, the judges Jurisdiction of Federal courts, etc.of the several courts established under the laws of the United States, United States commissioners, and persons appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to enforce this Act, shall have, with respect thereto, like powers and duties as are conferred by section 5Vol. 40, p. 756.U.
S. Code, p. 436. of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (title 16, section 706 of the United States Code) upon said judges, commissioners, and employees of the Department of Agriculture appointed to enforce the Act last aforesaid. Any bird, or part, nest or egg thereof, taken or possessedDisposal of seized birds, etc. contrary to this Act, when seized shall be disposed of as provided by section 5 of said Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Sec. 14. That any person, association, partnership, orViolations a misdemeanor. corporation who shall violate or fail to comply with any of the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than $10 nor more than $500, orPenalty for. be imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
Sec. 15. That for the purposes of this Act the word “take” shallComprehensive meaning of word “take.” be construed to mean pursue, hunt, shoot, capture, collect, kill, or attempt to pursue, hunt, shoot, capture, collect, or kill, unless the context otherwise requires. Sec. 16. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing orConsent of State required for designating a bird reservation in any national forest or power site. empowering the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission herein created, the Secretary of Agriculture, or any other board, commission, or officer, to declare, withdraw, or determine, except heretofore designated, any part of any national forest or power site, a migratory bird reservation under any of the provision of this Act, except by and with the consent of the legislature of the State wherein such forest or power site is located.
Sec. 17. That when any State shall, by suitable legislation, makeCooperation of a State by legislation, in enforcing Act, etc. provision adequately to enforce the provisions of this Act and all regulations promulgated thereunder, the Secretary of Agriculture may so certify, and then and thereafter said State may cooperate with the Secretary of Agriculture in the enforcement of this Act and the regulation, thereunder. Sec. 18. That a sum sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of theSum authorized for commission expenses.*Post*, p. 1634. commisison and its members, not to exceed an annual expenditure of $5,000. is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Said appropriationOrder of chairman conclusive. shall be paid out on the audit and order of the chairman of said commission, which audit and order shall be conclusive and binding upon the General Accounting Office as to the correctness of the accounts of said commission. 1226 Sec. 19. Invalidity of any provision, etc., not to affect remainder of Act.That if any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid the validity of the remainder of the Act and of the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Sec. 20. Act effective on approval.That this Act shall take effect upon its passage and approval. Approved, February 18, 1929.
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Chapter 257
To more effectively meet the obligations of the United States under the migratory bird treaty with Great Britain by lessening the dangers threatening migratory game birds from drainage and other causes, by the acquisition of areas of land and of water to furnish in perpetuity reservations for the ad
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