The Policemen of the Air 



l 7 



. it to view the ungainly but interesting 

 birds attending to their domestic duties. 

 As a final result of the establishment 

 of bird refuges, there is every reason to 

 believe not only that these island bird 

 colonies will be maintained intact, but 

 that in time the birds will so multiply as 

 to restock other islands not under the 

 control of specially appointed wardens. 

 Thus far 13 reservations have been set 

 apart by the Government : Breton Island, 

 Louisiana; Pelican Island, Passage Key, 

 and Indian Key, Florida; Stump Lake, 

 North Dakota; Huron Islands, off the 

 south shore of Lake Superior, Michigan ; 

 Siskiwit Islands, south of Isle Royale, 

 Lake Superior; and a series of islands 

 off the coast of Oregon and Washington. 



PROTECTION OF GAME IN ALASKA 



The big game of the world is fast be- 

 ing killed off. Nowadays no region is 

 too wild or remote to attract the sports- 

 man and the trophy hunter. Those who 

 read the accounts of the African ex- 

 plorers of scarcely more than a genera- 

 tion ago never dreamed that in a short 

 time the vast herds of wild game over 

 the greater part of that continent would 

 be a thing of the past. Alaska has now 

 become the Mecca toward which the 

 eyes of sportsmen are longingly turned, 

 and were all restrictions on the export of 

 trophies from that territory removed, a 

 very short period would suffice to see the 

 end of several notable game animals. 

 The Kenai Peninsula contains the largest 

 of the deer tribe in the world, the big 

 Kenai moose, and horns of one of these 

 animals, which sometimes spread 74 

 inches or more, command fabulous prices. 

 Other Alaska game animals are greatly 

 prized by sportsmen for trophies. 



In a territory so remote from supplies 

 as Alaska, game possesses more than 

 ordinary value to its inhabitants, and the 

 primary purpose of the Alaska game law 

 was to preserve the game for the use of 

 the people, both natives and white. To 

 provide for emergencies, a special clause 

 in the present law allows Indians, Eski- 

 mos, miners, and explorers, when in need 



of food or clothing, to kill game for their 

 immediate use. Prior to the passage of 

 the law, so many deer were killed for 

 their hides as to threaten the extinction of 

 these animals within accessible territory. 



The law has been thought by many too 

 drastic, and has caused much dissatis- 

 faction. 



A bill was introduced in the 59th 

 Congress, and passed the House, which 

 materially modifies the present law and is 

 very liberal with regard to the shipment 

 of trophies. It provides, among other 

 things, for the issuing of licenses to hunt 

 and to export a limited number of tro- 

 phies and for the employment of game 

 wardens and guides. Should this bill be- 

 come a law, many of the present causes 

 of complaint on the part of sportsmen 

 and residents of Alaska will be removed. 



THE LACEY ACT 



The so-called Lacey act, approved May 

 25, 1900, marked a long and important 

 step forward in the cause of bird and 

 game protection. Prior to its passage the 

 several states attempted in vain to pro- 

 hibit the shipment of game beyond their 

 boundaries. Game was forwarded to 

 other states and sold in distant markets, 

 without respect to season, under the plea 

 that by such shipment it had become an 

 article of interstate commerce and hence 

 was beyond the jurisdiction of the state 

 where offered for sale. All this was 

 changed by the Lacey act, which struck 

 at the root of the evil by prohibiting the 

 shipment from any state of birds killed 

 in violation of local laws, and placed im- 

 ported game on the same footing as birds 

 or animals produced within the state 

 where the game was sold. 



This act confers upon the Department 

 of Agriculture important powers also in 

 relation to the importation of foreign 

 birds and animals, which prior to its pas- 

 sage was without check. It specifically 

 prohibits the introduction of certain 

 species, such as the English sparrow, 

 starling, flying-fox, mongoose, and such 

 others as mav be declared injurious to 

 agriculture ; for with the growth of our 



