The American Museum Journal 



Volume XIII MAY, 1913 



Number 5 



OUR NATIONAL BIRD RESERVATIONS 



PROTECTED NESTING PLACES, RESTING AND FEEDING GROUNDS 

 FOR BIRDS ON LONG MIGRATIONS — FIELD LABORATORIES FOR 

 EXPERIMENTAL WORK ON IMPORTANT ECONOMIC AND SCIEN- 

 TIFIC PROBLEMS 



By T. S. Palmer 



Assistant Chief, United States Biological Survey 



WHEN President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order setting 

 aside Pelican Island in Florida as a reservation, he took a step 

 which was destined to mark an important milestone in the 

 progress of bird protection. The colony of brown pelicans nesting on this 

 island had been known to ornithologists for more than a century, and ever 

 since the visit of Dr. Henry Bryant in 1858 it had been visited from time 

 to time by observers who had published notes on the condition of birds. 

 The visits of Mr. Frank M. Chapman in 1898 and 1900 and the wonderful 

 series of photographs which he obtained showed very clearly the urgent 

 necessity for the protection of the birds. 



Late in April, 1901, at the request of Mr. William Dutcher, then chairman 

 of the Committee on Protection of Birds of the American Ornithologists' 

 Union, I accompanied him to Tallahassee, Florida, in an effort to secure the 

 enactment of a law for the protection of these and other non-game birds. 

 The effort met with success and under the act approved May 29, 1901, 

 protection was extended to practically all non-game birds in the state. In 

 the following year a warden was appointed by the committee and placed 

 in charge of Pelican Island. Later the island was surveyed and negotiations 

 were begun for its purchase, when it was suggested by the Surveyor General 

 of the United States that it might be made a national reservation. Acting 

 on this suggestion an Executive Order was prepared in the General Land 

 Office, approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and submitted to the 

 President. This Executive Order, the first ever issued for the benefit of 

 birds, read as follows: 



White House, March 14, 1903 



It is hereby ordered that Pelican Island in Indian River in section nine, township thirty- 

 one south, range thirty-nine east, State of Florida, be, and it is hereby, reserved and set apart 

 for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a preserve and breeding ground for native 

 birds. 



[Signed] Theodore Roosevelt 



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