86 PROBLEMS IN WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



in size until- for the fiscal year 1934 the sum of $575,780 

 was made available by the federal government for the preda- 

 tory animal and rodent-control work of the Survey. 1 * 



Although the emphasis of the Survey's work was shifted 

 from scientific to the practical economic in 1906-07, scientific 

 studies have been continued since that date. Indeed, the 

 studies in geographical distribution of wild life form the 

 basis for most of the practical work of the Survey. For 

 example, during recent years they have proved to be of 

 great value in fixing the location of migratory bird refuge, 

 for as a result of these studies the Survey knows where 

 various species of wild life are to be found. 



With the view to making enforcement of the state game 

 laws easier and of preventing the importation of foreign 

 species which might, like the English sparrow, prove un- 

 desirable, Congress in 1900 passed the Lacy Act 15 that 

 forbade the shipment in interstate commerce of game or 

 game birds which had been taken illegally in a state or terri- 

 tory or which were shipped in violation of state non-export 

 laws and the importation of foreign species except under 

 permit of the Secretary of Agriculture. The enforcement 

 of the act was delegated by the Secretary to the Bureau of 

 the Biological Survey although of necessity, due to the small 

 amount appropriated in the years immediately following the 

 passage of the Lacy Act, the enforcement consisted chiefly 

 of cooperation with the states. 



Nevertheless this was the first important regulatory work 

 which was assigned to the Survey, and it was destined to be 

 followed by other acts of the same type. In 1918 the so- 

 called Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 16 and again in 1929 the 

 Migratory Bird Conservation Act, 17 together with the vari- 



i*47 Stat. L. 1454. 



15 31 Stat. L. 187 as amended in 1909, 35 Stat. L. 1137. 



16 40 Stat. L. 755. 1T 45 Stat. L. 1222. 



