CHAPTER VII 



THE REORGANIZATION OF FEDERAL 

 CONSERVATION AGENCIES 



EVERY ONE of the ten executive departments of the fed- 

 eral government has something to do with wild-life conser- 

 vation. Certain departments, it is true, are more interested 

 than others ; but all of them, directly or indirectly, have some 

 part to play in the great movement for conservation of the 

 wild-life resources of the nation. 



The Department of Agriculture through the Biological 

 Survey and the Forest Service, the Department of Com- 

 merce through the Bureau of Fisheries and the Bureau of 

 Lighthouses, the Department of Interior through the Na- 

 tional Park Service and the Office of Indian Affairs are all 

 more or less actively engaged in wild life conservation work. 

 The other executive departments play less direct, though 

 important roles the State Department in handling corres- 

 pondence with foreign governments and in negotiating 

 treaties concerning wild life, the Treasury Department in 

 supervising importations by means of the Customs Service, 

 and the Department of Justice in handling prosecutions in 

 the federal courts for violations of the conservation laws, 

 and so on down through the remaining executive depart- 

 ments. 



The Demand for Reorganization: In recent years there 

 has been a considerable demand for a general reorganiza- 

 tion of the administrative agencies of the federal govern- 

 ment along the lines of primary function. A necessary part 

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