CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



127 



A RESOLUTION 



Adopted by the Western Association of 



State Game Commissioners 



January 17, 1922. 



The several commissioners and game 

 wardens of the game and fish departments 

 of the states of Arizona, Colorado, Mon- 

 tana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and 

 Wyoming, in conference assembled at Salt 

 Lake City, Utah, this seventeenth day of 

 January, 1022, having carefully consid- 

 ered United States Senate Bill No. 1452, 

 entitled "The Federal Public Shooting 

 Ground and (iamo Refuge Act," do unan- 

 imously adopt the following resolutions : 



Whereas, We appreciate the need for 

 the establishment of public shooting' 

 grounds and game refug'es in various 

 parts of the United States, for the benefit 

 of the public at large and for the protec- 

 tion of migratory birds ; and 



Whereas. We, tlirough our several 

 game and fish departments in the states 

 which we represent, have given our full 

 support and cooperation to tlie efforts of 

 the federal government to successfully 

 administer the present federal migratory 

 bird laws and regulations ; and 



Whereas. We approve of the purpose 

 and aims of tlie federal government as 

 evidenced by the present migratory bird 

 laws and are in favor of such additional 

 legislation as may further sucli purpose ; 

 and 



Whereas, On the other hand, we are 

 not unmindful of the inherent sovereignty 

 of the several states as recognized in the 

 decision of the Supreme Court of the 

 United States in its determination that 

 the game and fish within the confines of 

 each state are the property of such state 

 and, therefore, under the jurisdiction and 

 control of state authority ; and 



Whereas, We disapprove of the cen- 

 tralization of control in the federal gov- 

 ernment, of the game birds, animals and 

 fishes which find their range within the 

 confines of any state ; and 



Whereas, The purport of said Senate 

 Bill No. 1452 is not. in our opinion, as 

 indicated in its title, but, on the contrary, 

 is designed to, and will result in, an un- 

 warranted encroachment by the federal 

 government upon the rights of the vari- 

 ous states in the protection of their fish 

 and game, and in the administration of 

 their fish and game laws ; now, therefore, 

 be it 



Resolved. That we protest against the 

 enactment into law of United States Sen- 

 ate Bill No. 14,52 for the reasons as set 

 forth in the foregoing preambles and 

 more specifically because : 



1. Said Senate bill, although in its title 

 "providing for establishing shooting 

 grounds for the public ; for establishing 

 game refuges and breeding grounds ; for 

 protecting migratory birds and requiring 

 a federal license to hunt them," neverthe- 

 less, in the body thereof, purports to give 

 authority in nowise indicated in the title, 

 and delegates power to the Department 

 of Agriculture and a committee consisting 

 of the Secretary of Agriculture, the At- 

 torney General, the Postmaster General, 

 two members of the Senate and two mem- 

 bers of tlie House of Representatives, 

 giving said commission complete legisla- 

 tive powers to make rules and regulations 

 which will have the force of laws govern- 

 ing and controlling, not only the migra- 



tory birds and the game animals, but also 

 the fishes that may be found in their 

 natural state or introduced into any of 

 the lands or waters upon any game pre- 

 serve secured under said act, either by 

 gift, lease or purchase. 



2. We do not approve of creating a 

 federal organization of game wardens 

 which, in the enforcement of said act, will 

 largely duplicate the work of the state 

 organizations for the protection of fish 

 and game, thereby increasing the operat- 

 ing expenses necessary to the enforce- 

 ment of the law, and tending to create 

 conflicting authority between state and 

 federal game wardens and to di.srupt the 

 harmony and unity of purpose now exist- 

 ing between the state and federal depart- 

 ments. 



3. We object to the federal government 

 assessing a license fee against citizens of 

 a state for the privilege of hunting and 

 fishing within the confines of his own 

 state. 



And Whereas, We believe that the 

 enforcement of the migratory bird law is 

 of sufficient importance to justify a direct 

 appropriation from Congress 'for that 

 purpose ; be it further 



Hesolved, That we favor a direct appro- 

 priation from Congress for the purpose 

 of enforcing the Migratory Bird Treaty 

 Act and the establishment of public shoot- 

 ing grounds and game refuges under the 

 direction of the Biological Survey. 



It has been determined to express the 

 foregoing ideas in resolution form for the 

 purpose of conveying to the Congress of 

 the United States a concrete expression 

 by the fish and game officials of the above 

 named states who are primarily interested 

 in legislation, be it state or federal, which 

 will be most suitably designed to accom- 

 plish the protection and increase of the 

 fish and game of the country and to avoid 

 submerging a laudable common purpose, 

 in disputes and conflicts (intensified pos- 

 sibly by a sense of un.iust assumption of 

 federal control) between officials and em- 

 ployees of departments of government 

 with overlapping coordinate authority. 



J. W. TiNGEY, D. H. Madsen, 



Secretary. Pi'esident. 



The original bill thus exposed should 

 have no chance of passing, but strange 

 things happen, and if sportsmen and con- 

 servationists remain apathetic, states will 

 be robbed of their rights and sportsmen's 

 license money exploited by a political 

 commission. The California Fish and 

 Game Commission has now refused to 

 support the bill unless it is suitably 

 amended, and California representatives 

 in Congress have been so informed. 



DEER HUNTERS SHOOT CATTLE. 



In our January issue a long list of 

 hunting accidents furnished evidence that 

 many hunters are careless when in the 

 field and fail to "look before they shoot." 

 Now comes additional evidence of like 

 carelessness in a report of the United 

 States Forest Service, which states that 



