Annual Meeting 1908 281 



LEGISLATION 



I urge the foundation of a fund to be devoted to the legislative work of this 

 Association. The public cannot realize how very important this branch of the 

 work is, and how necessary it is to maintain eternal vigilance. To illustrate: 

 After considerable hard work, a satisfactory bird and game law is secured in 

 a state. You may think this is the end of the story, and that our work is finished 

 in that localit} , but it is not. In some states, a session of the legislature is held 

 annually, but, fortunately, in most of the Commonwealths, biennially. Every 

 session of a legislature must be closely watched, in order to prevent amendments 

 to our law that would weaken it. This requires that copies of all bills introduced 

 must be promptly obtained, and that the Association be kept informed of the 

 Committee to which the bill is referred and also of the dates of hearings by 

 the Committee. When the bill is an important one, a representative of the Asso- 

 ciation must be present at the hearing and speak for or against it. The above 

 outline is simply what has to be done each year to prevent undesirable legis- 

 lation in one state; when it is multiplied by all of the states holding legislative 

 sessions (forty-four in the coming winter), you can fairly judge of the magnitude 

 of this branch of the work. 



When the Association initiates legislation, which it very often does, success 

 demands even greater efforts. In the matter of bird legislation, there i- no rest- 

 ing-place; the only price of satisfactory bird protection is eternal watching of 

 legislatures, for in an unguarded moment an amendment may be passed that 

 will undo the work of years. Our field agents are experts in legislative work; 

 but human strength has its limits, and they cannot respond to more than a frac- 

 tion of the calls made upon them. In addition to watching forty-four legislatures 

 for undesirable bills, the Association proposes to initiate the following new 

 legislation this winter. 



Game-bird Protection. — Anti-spring-shooting bills for Massachusetts, Rhode 

 Island, Michigan, North Dakota, and Southern Xew Jersey. Until all spring 

 shooting is prohibited, game birds will decrease. 



Xon-sale 0) Game Birds. — Bill to prohibit sale of any kind of game birds 

 in Xew York state during the close season. Permission to sell game in the close 

 season practically lengthens a season. 



X on-game Bird Protection. — Bills to strengthen the plumage section in several 

 state laws, notably in Xew York. This must be done in order to stop the sale 

 of wild birds' plumage, especially that of the White Herons, and several other 

 birds that are becoming alarmingly scarce. 



Big Game Protection. — Bills to obtain increased protection for antelope, 

 especially by securing a close season for several years in states where there is 

 now an open season, viz., Kansas, Montana, Xevada, Oregon, Washington 

 and Wyoming. The antelope is an animal of special scientific interest, as it is 

 found in no other portion of the world. Our stock of the graceful prong-horn 



