The Yellowstone National Park 

 Protection Act 



On May 7, 1S94, President Cleveland approved an Act 

 "to protect the birds and animals in Yellowstone Na- 

 tional Park, and to punish crimes in said Park, and for 

 other purposes." 



This law, as finally enacted, owed much to the efforts 

 and labor of members of the Boone and Crockett Club, 

 who for many years had persistently struggled to induce 

 Congress to pass such necessary legislation. The final 

 triumph is a matter of congratulation to every sportsman 

 interested in the protection of game, and fulfills one of 

 the great objects sought to be attained by the foundation 

 of the Club. While the statute, in many of its details, 

 could readily be improved, it is still, in its general fea- 

 tures, sufficient to serve the purposes of its enactment. 

 To those not conversant with the subject, the statement 

 may seem astonishing, that from the establishment of the 

 Park in 1872 to the passage of the Act in 1894 no law 

 protecting either the Park, the animals or the visitors was 

 operative within the Yellowstone Park — a region contain- 

 ing about 3,500 square miles, and larger than the States 

 of Delaware and Rhode Island. This condition of af- 

 fairs was frequently brought to the notice of the National 

 Legislature, and in 1887 their attention was called to 

 it by a startling episode. A member of Congress, Mr. 



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