The Audubon Societies 



377 



At the present time the Congressional 

 appropriation for the Biological Survey 

 for enforcing the Migratory Bird Treaty 

 Act amounts to only $142,500, a sum in- 

 adequate to enforce the Federal bird laws. 

 In order to provide such a fund a suggestion 

 has been made that all those who hunt 

 migratory birds should be required to take 

 out a United States hunting license, cost- 

 ing, perhaps, 50 cents. It is thought that 

 the revenue from this source would yield 



between one and two million dollars. Much 

 thought has been given to this proposition 

 and it appears to be favored by all those 

 who are most familiar with conservation 

 matters. It is earnestly to be hoped that 

 some such law may be enacted at the com- 

 ing session of Congress. If funds anything 

 like the amount estimated to be derived 

 from this source should be realized, a por- 

 tion could well be spent for the establish- 

 ment and maintenance of bird sanctuaries. 



THUMBS DOWN FOR MALHEUR LAKE 



On election day, November 2, 1920, the 

 people of Oregon voted down the referen- 

 dum for declaring Malheur Lake the Roose- 

 velt Bird Refuge. The bill against which 

 the majority of the Oregon votes was cast 

 was for the purpose of deeding to the 

 United States Government any claim that 

 the state of Oregon might hold in the title 

 of Malheur Lake. Until recently it was 

 supposed that the Lake was Government 

 property without question, and on Aug- 

 ust 18, 1908, Theodore Roosevelt, then 

 President of the United States, ordered it 

 to be proclaimed as one of the United 

 States Bird Reservations. Since that time, 

 under the care of the Biological Survey, it 

 has been guarded and protected as such. 



Malheur Lake is undoubtedly the most 

 important breeding-place for wild fowl 

 within the borders of our country. It is a 

 shallow lake with reed-covered margins 

 and islands. It occupies an area of about 

 47,000 acres and in its vast expanse there 

 accumulate every summer hundreds of 

 thousands of Ducks, Geese, Grebes, White 

 Pelicans, Terns, Cormorants, and other 

 water-birds that come here for the purpose 

 of raising their young. In the spring and 

 autumn the lake swarms with innumerable 

 flocks of migrating wild fowl. 



The fight for the Roosevelt Bird Refuge 

 Bill was led by the Oregon State Audu- 

 bon Society officials, William L. Finley as 

 its President being the active head. A 

 Roosevelt Bird Refuge Association had 

 been organized and under this title the 

 campaign was conducted. A wide pub- 



licity effort was carried forward. The 

 National Association of Audubon Societies, 

 as a result of the keen interest of one of its 

 friends, was able to contribute between 

 two and three thousand dollars toward ex- 

 penses. The rest of the expense was borne 

 by friends of the measure in Oregon. Those 

 who favored the bill contended that this 

 most important breeding-place in Oregon 

 should be preserved for the benefit of the 

 wild life; and that if the lake were drained 

 its alkaline soil would not be found pro- 

 ductive for general agricultural purposes. 

 Those opposing the bill claimed that, if 

 drained, the area of the lake bottom could 

 be sold for hundreds of thousands of dol- 

 lars to enrich the school fund, and that 

 the whole idea of preserving it as a refuge 

 was simply a matter of sentiment which, 

 from their standpoint, was entirely un- 

 necessary. Naturally the opposition was 

 led by those who plan to reap benefit in 

 dollars and cents by the destruction of the 

 reservation. 



It is as much the case today as it was 

 ten years ago that eternal vigilance is the 

 price that must be paid if our American 

 wild life is to be preserved. 



J. H. Cunningham, a prominent engi- 

 neer of Portland, Ore., was one of the many 

 who was strongly in favor of the Roose- 

 velt Bird Refuge Bill. His comments, 

 which appeared in the Oregonian of Octo- 

 ber 31, 1920, are pertinent as to the atti- 

 tude assumed by many of its friends: 



"The average man is more or less selfish 

 to the extent of wanting something con- 



