Malheur Refuge in Oregon. 



communities which were unable to maintain a 

 living standard from their abused and wornout 

 soils. In 1939 that policy changed, and areas 

 acquired by the Resettlement and Farm Security 

 Administrations were turned over to other agen- 

 cies of the Government for administration. Five 

 such units, totaling more than 200,000 acres, were 

 transferred to the Service: The Carolina Sand- 

 hills in South Carolina, Little Fend Oreille in 

 Washington, Piedmont in Georgia, Moosehorn in 

 Maine, and Kentucky Woodlands in Kentucky. 

 All were generally suited for wildlife and upland 

 game, while the 40,000-acre Necedah in "Wiscon- 

 sin, and a 65,000-acre addition to the St. Marks 

 Refuge in Florida were important additions to 

 the waterfowl program. 



By 1939, all appropriated and emergency funds 

 for the purchase of lands were obligated, and the 

 Migratory Waterfowl Stamp receipts became the 

 only funds available for land purchase. They also 

 constituted a large pari of the money available 

 for development, operation, and maintenance of 

 refuges previously acquired. The land-purchase 

 program by necessity resolved itself into one of 

 purchasing key tracts, either in areas where new- 



refuges were sorely needed, or to round out and 

 complete refuges that had been partly acquired 

 during the burst of activity in earlier days of 

 refuge expansion. 



Refuge Acquisition Since 1940 



Since 1940 there has been little in the way of 

 congressional appropriations specifically for the 

 acquisition and development of lands for migra- 

 tory birds. The principal exception has been in 

 California. Here agricultural depredations were 

 severe, and to meet a specific problem in the win- 

 tering grounds at the lower end of the Pacific 

 Flyway, Congress in 1948 passed what is known 

 as the Lea Act. The need was for croplands on 

 which the birds' might feed instead of raiding the 

 fanners' rice and barley fields. The Lea Act. 

 therefore, authorized the acquisition of wildlife- 

 management areas on which feed could be grown. 

 It also included a special provision permitting 

 hunting at the discretion of the Secretary of the 

 Interior. This plan proceeded regularly for a 

 5-year period, with congressional appropriations 

 of $250,000 annually to acquire, develop, and 



