PROBLEMS IN WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



The act further provides that whenever the Bureau of 

 Reclamation or any other federal agency impounds water 

 for any use, 72 



. . . opportunity shall be given to the Bureau of Fisheries 

 and the Bureau of Biological Survey to make such uses of the 

 impounded water for fish culture stations and migratory birds 

 resting and nesting areas as are not inconsistent with the primary 

 use of the water and the constitutional rights of the states. 



The Bureau of Biological Survey and the Bureau of 

 Fisheries aided by the Office of Indian Affairs are author- 

 ized to jointly prepare plans for the conservation of wild- 

 life resources on Indian reservations and, in cooperation 

 with the National Park Service and Forest Service, plans 

 for the development of wild-life reosurces on public do- 

 main. 73 



Although this act did not provide for a permanent co- 

 ordinating agency it should pave the way for such an 

 agency. An inter-departmental committee to coordinate the 

 conservation programs of the various federal bureaus, even 

 without formal authority to enforce its decisions, would be 

 most valuable. It is important, however, that this inter- 

 departmental committee not be encumbered with regulatory 

 work nor should it undertake independent research. It 

 should be the thinking and planning agency using the re- 

 sults of the research already carried on by existing bureaus. 7 * 



But at its best, coordination is a make- shift method, used 

 because a more complete reorganization is not possible. In 

 the field of conservation the ultimate aim must be a reorgan- 

 ization which will bring all the federal conservation agencies 

 together in one group. 



72 Ibid., Sect. 3. /^ Sect. 5. 



74 The Board of Surveys and Maps is an agency of this type. It has 

 been fairly successful in coordinating federal map making. 



