HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 



The American Bison Society. 



By John D. Hamlyn. 



I have received from Martin S. Garretson, 

 Secretary, the Annual Report of the American 

 Bison Society. It is indeed a very interesting 

 report and I feel sure my readers will appreciate 

 the noble efforts made to preserve the Bison. 



FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



The Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the 

 American Bison Society was held at the office of 

 Clark Williams, 37, Liberty Street, New York 

 City, on Thursday, January 8th, 1920. President 

 Edmund Seymour presiding. 



The Minutes of the Thirteenth Annual Meet- 

 ing were read and approved. The Treasurer's 

 report showed a balance on hand of $1,122.98 

 with no debts outstanding. An Auditing Com- 

 mittee appointed by the chair reported the Treas- 

 urer's account correct. 



President Seymour read his Annual Report, 

 which is printed in full elsewhere. 



A Nominating Committee presented the fol- 

 lowing names for the Board of Managers : A. 

 Barton Hepburn, Ernest Harold Baynes, Edmund 

 Seymour, George D. Pratt, Dr. William T. 

 Hornaday, Arthur H. Hagemeyer, Dr. T. S. 

 Palmer, Carl K. McFadden and J. B. Harkin for 

 the class of 1922, and L. D. Baldwin to fill the 

 vacancy caused by the death of Col. C. J. Jones, 

 " Buffalo Jones." 



On the request of President Seymour, Dd. 

 Geo. W. Field of the U.S. Biological Survey, 

 read his official report on his recent investigations 

 of a proposed antelope and sage grouse reserve 

 in Southeastern Oregon and Northwestern 

 Nevada. This interesting report showed very 

 clearly the necessity for immediate Federal pro- 

 tection of the antelope and sage grouse, 



The following resolution was made by Dr. 

 Hornaday and unanimously carried : — ■ 



Resolved, That the thanks of tre Ameri- 

 can Bison Society be extended to Dr. Geo. 

 W. Field for his agreeable and valuable co- 

 operation with the Society's representative in 

 the investigation of the status of the antelope 

 and sage grouse in Oregon and Nevada, and 

 the possibilities for making a preserve for 

 the preservation of those species. 



Upon motion, it was Voted that the reports 

 of Secretary Garretson and Dr. Field, on their 

 investigation of the antelope and sage grouse, 

 be printed in the next Annual Report of the 



Society, together with a map, showing location 

 of proposed reserve and route travelled. 



The President presented the following reso- 

 lution, which was unanimously accepted. 



Resolved, That the American B'son 

 Society hereby elects to enter actively into' a 

 campaign to secure such Federal action as 

 will result in the creation of a bird preserve 

 in the Southeastern corner of Lake County, 

 Oregon, between the eastern shore of War- 

 ner Lake and the Eastern and Southern 

 boundary lines of Lake County; and 



Be it Further Resolved, That the Society 

 hereby invites all American game protective 

 organizations that are active in National 

 movements to join the Bison Society in co^ 

 operating with the United States Department 

 of Agriculture for the creation and adminis- 

 tration of the preserv ereferred to' above. 



Dr. Field called the Society's attention to 

 the grave situation whidh confronted the elk 

 herd in the Yellowstone National Park. He 

 stated that owing to an unusually severe winter, 

 the elk had been driven from the mountains in 

 search of food at a much earlier period of the 

 season than usual, and in greater numbers than 

 heretofore. The Government maintains a feed- 

 ing farm to take care of the four thousand elk 

 that usually gather there each winter, but this 

 winter ten thousand were there now, and others 

 coming in, and there was no question but that 

 the greater part of them would die of starvation. 

 The State farm put up during the year four hun- 

 dred tons of hay and this was about gone. He 

 further stated that there was plenty of hay on 

 the ranches in the vicinity, but the owners were 

 protecting it from the elk and were asking from 

 thirty toi fifty dollars a ton for it. The Govern- 

 ment had made no appropriations for buying hay, 

 therefore the situation was a most desperate one 

 for the elk, as it would take one thousand tons 

 of hay to feed ten thousand elk, but if associa- 

 tions land patriotic citizens would furnish the 

 funds, these elk could be saved, as there is at 

 least sixteen hundred tons of hay that can be 

 bought at a reasonable figure. 



A resolution was presented by H. A. Ed- 

 wards and unanimously carried. 



Resolved, That it is the sense of this 

 Annual Meeting that the Officers of the Bison 

 Society be authorized and directed to take 

 whatever action may seem wise and practica- 

 ble to' promote the permanent preservation of 

 the distressed elk herds of Wyoming and 

 Montana in co-operating with other organi- 

 zations. 



