MONTANA STATE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



25 



already established and 

 working proposition. Since 

 1933, arrangements have 

 been made for the secur- 

 ing and developing of 142 

 new refuges totaling two 

 and three-quarter million 

 acres of land. Three of 

 these splendid refuges 

 have been established and 

 are now being developed 

 in your state. 



"Last May, I passed 

 through Montana and had 

 the pleasure of seeing 

 more ducks on the re- 

 cently improved Medicine 

 Lake Refuge than that 

 region had seen — accord- 

 ing to local observers — in 

 many years. I estimated 

 that there were twelve or 

 thirteen thousand of them. 

 On the same trip, I saw 

 other places — particularly 

 in the Sun River country 

 and in the Flathead Val- 

 ley — where by relatively 

 simple restoration meas- 

 ures the same and even betteer refuge conditions could and should be created. 



"There is but one obstacle in the way. We have the funds and the knowl- 

 edge of the requirements. The citizens of Montana can furnish the man power. 

 But here is the rub. The funds available at the present time can be used for 

 the purchase of lands in only those states which, by law, have consented to 

 such purchases. It is to Montana's need for this permissive legislation that I 

 desire here to invite your consideration. 



"It is not within my province to recommend for or against the enactment 

 of laws by the Legislature of Montana. I desire only to state the facts very 

 briefly and to leave whatever action may be taken entirely to youi- judgment. 



"An overwhelmingly large percentage of the waterfowl which breed in the 

 United States nest in the comparatively small area of North Dakota, South 

 Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, and Nebraska. 



Our field studies and observations make it increasingly clear to us that 

 Montana possesses physical and biological characteristics and hereditary at- 

 tractions to the birds that make it potentially one of the nation's greatest duck 

 hatcheries. But "potentially" is not enough. It should be an actuality and I 

 am convinced that such would be the case if it were not that the absence of 

 Enabling Legislation at this time makes it impossible for us to consider the 



