EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 



Edited by WILLIAM DUTCHER 



Address all correspondence, and send all remittances for dues and contributions, to 

 the National Association of Audubon Societies. 141 Broadway. New York City 



National Conservation Commission 



One of the most important meetings 

 ever held in this country was the one 

 called by President Roosevelt last spring, 

 when he invited the governors of the sev- 

 eral states to meet in Washington to con- 

 sider the best methods of conserving the 

 natural resources of the country. 



The outgrowth of the meeting was the 

 formation of the National Conservation 

 Commission, under the leadership of Mr. 

 Gifford Pinchot, Chief Forester of the 

 United States. 



Recently Mr. Pinchot asked the Na- 

 tional Association to appoint a committee 

 of five of its members to take charge of 

 wild bird and animal protection in the 

 United States as a sub-committee to co- 

 operate with the Commission. 



The Committee is as follows: Edward 

 Howe Forbush, Chairman; Dr. Theodore 

 S. Palmer, Frank Chapman, William 

 Dutcher, T. Gilbert Pearson, Secretary. 

 The 6rst work proposed by the sub- 

 committee will be to prepare a report blank 

 to send broadcast throughout the United 

 States, in order to get an approximate 

 census of the birds of the country, especi- 

 ally game birds, and a second line of in- 

 vestigation will be to discover the number 

 of game birds and animals killed each 

 year by sportsmen. 



When the Committee is prepared to 

 make a preliminary report on these two 

 subjects, the matter of bird and game 

 protection can be placed upon a mui h 

 more S( ientific basis than the present 

 knowledge of the subject permits. 



The Committee will welcome the aid 

 of every member of the Association, as 

 well as every reader of Bird-Loke, ail 

 the sportsmen of the United Stales, and 



all others interested in wild birds and 

 animals. 



State Audubon Reports 



South Carolina. — The Audubon So- 

 ciety, of South Carolina, was chartered by 

 the General Assembly, 1907. Organized 

 with election of the following oflScers: 

 B. F. Taylor, Columbia, S. C, president; 

 James Henry Rice, Jr., Spartanburg, 

 secretary, and a full board of directors. 

 The treasurer, A. R. Heyward, Jr., Colum- 

 bia, was appointed by the governor. 



Work began on April 23, when the sec- 

 retary went on the road to secure mem- 

 bers and to work up interest among the 

 people. The year 1907 closed with fairly 

 satisfactory results, but no action was 

 taken on the society's bills, introduced 

 into the General Assembly which cim- 

 vened in January. 



The society had no means of raising 

 revenue e.xcept from membership fees, 

 save a small amount, about two thousand 

 dollars, that was realized from a non- 

 resident license. 



During the year, liowcver, tlie wDrk has 

 been pushed with vigor and determination, 

 the secretary ha\ing spent the entire year 

 in the field. One hundred and si.x wardens 

 are now working, most of them doing satis- 

 factory work. 



The secretary has ilelivcred lectures 

 in every quarter of the slate, and has 

 aroused acute interest in the subject of 

 bird and game protection. He is also an 

 active warden, and has made many arrests 

 and secured a number of convictions. 



.\t the same time President Taylor, who 

 is a business man, with headquarters at 

 Columbia, devoted a great deal of his 

 lime to s|)reading the propaganda of bird 



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