August 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



FEDERAL 



ACTIONS 



Department of the Interior 



FISH AND WILDUFE LAW ENFORCEMENT 



STRENGTHENING OF FISH AND WILDLIFE 



LAW ENFORCEMENT SOUGHT: 



The Department of the Interior announced 

 on April 28, 1966, that it had asked Congress 

 to provide for increased wildlife protection 

 and facilitate enforcement of certain crimi- 

 nal statutes covering offenses against wild- 

 life. 



A Department -proposed amendment to the 

 Criminal Code would extend protective Fed- 

 eral laws to every part of the United States 

 in order to curb the $1 million a year alli- 

 gator poaching racket that is depleting these 

 valuable reptiles. Alligator hides are in great 

 demand for expensive shoes and purses. Raw 

 hides 5 to 6 feet long sell for $6 a foot. In- 

 terior's Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wild- 

 life reported those prices create an incentive 

 for poachers to violate State laws designed to 

 protect alligators, now on the Interior De- 

 partnaent's list of endangered species. 



Existing law makes it a Federal offense to 

 transport in interstate .traffic wild mammals 

 andbirds taken in violation of State, Federal, 

 or foreign law. The Interior Department has 

 suggested that the law be extended to cover 

 reptiles (such as alligators), amphibians 

 (frogs), mollusks, including oysters and clams, 

 and Crustacea, such as crabs and lobsters. 



The Department also proposed amendments 

 concerning penalties designed to protect wild 

 animals and property on Federal sanctuaries, 

 refuges, or breeding grounds. 



As proposed, the CrimLnad Code would be 

 amended to: 



(1) Extend coverage to all Federal areas administered for 

 the conservation of wildlife and to all other Federal 

 areas that may be set aside by the Secretary of the 

 Interior to aid wildlife , 



(2) Define "wildlife" to include wild mammals and biids, 



reptiles, amphibians, fish, mollusks, Crustacea, and 

 all other classes of wild animals. 



(3) Prohibit violation of regulations set by United States 



agencies responsible for wildlife areas concerning 

 automobiles, disorderly conduct, or littering. 



(4) Provide new authority to Interior Department em- 



ployees to arrest persons violating regulations and 

 to search for and seize any property used or pos- 

 sessed illegally. 



A third recommendation would amend the 

 Criminal Code governing importation of in- 

 jurious species of wildlife. At present, the 

 Secretaries of Interior and Treasury share 

 enforcement responsibility, but there is no 

 provision for arrests or seizure of property 

 used in violation of this section. The pro- 

 posed bill would provide Interior and Cus- 

 toms Bureau employees with this authority. 



A bill submitted to Congress by the De- 

 partment of the Interior, would also make 

 unlawful interstate or foreign commerce in 

 wild animals or birds without marking the 

 package with the name of sender and consign- 

 nee, and the contents by number and kind. In- 

 cluded would be reptiles, amphibians, mol- 

 lusks, and crustacea--thus authorizing Fed- 

 eral game management agents to aid State 

 enforcement further of laws intended to curb 

 illegal traffic in alligator hides. 



Interior's bill would increase the juris- 

 diction of a United States Commissioner who 

 now, when designated by a court for the pur- 

 pose, may try and sentence persons commit- 

 ting petty offenses in any place over which 

 Congress has exclusive power to legislate or 

 over which the United States has concurrent 

 jurisdiction with a State. While petty offend- 

 ers in national parks may be tried by a Com- 

 missioner, there is no statutory authority 

 for their jurisdiction over such violations on 

 most national wildlife refuges and other Fed- 

 eral wildlife areas. 



The proposal would extend such jurisdic- 

 tion to any Federal area. A Commissioner 



