190 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



along all the lines of conservation of our natural re- 

 sources ; and I had the satisfaction of framing and aiding 

 in securing the passage of many bills for these purposes. 



As the various matters to come up will, no doubt, be 

 divided into separate propositions, I wish to press upon 

 the committee the one plan of my own which has been so 

 far applied partially in separate bills, and that is, the 

 question of game preserves. The code of laws for the 

 protection of Yellowstone National Park, I had the pleas- 

 ure of drawing, although the park had been in existence 

 many years practically under no law as to details of man- 

 agement. The creation of the Wichita Forest Reserve in 

 Oklahoma into a game preserve, and also the Grand Can- 

 yon Preserve, are instances of specific legislation which 

 I proposed. Under the so-called "Lacey Act" a large 

 number of islands have by executive order been set apart 

 as breeding grounds for birds. I prepared and intro- 

 duced a bill, in nearly every Congress in which I served, 

 giving the President authority by executive orders, to set 

 apart the whole, or a specific portion of any forest re- 

 serve, as a game preserve, and provide the necessary reg- 

 ulation for protecting game therein. These specific areas 

 could be used as breeding or stocking grounds, the over- 

 flow supplying the outside country. The necessity and 

 propriety of such a law is more evident now than it was 

 when I first undertook to secure its enactment. 



There is now under the control of the Department of 

 Agriculture forest area equal to the states of Minnesota, 

 Iowa, and Missouri combined. These reserves are widely 

 scattered, and if designated areas should be selected, 

 with a closed season substantially the year round therein, 

 with authority for the Department of Agriculture to con- 

 serve the same, as already provided for in the so-called 

 "Lacey Act," the question of saving our wild life from 

 extinction would be solved. 



