Renewable Resource Policy by Adams David A.;

Author:Adams, David A.; [Adams, David A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 6531260
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2013-03-22T00:00:00+00:00

Migratory Bird Emphasis

National wildlife refuges have been established to protect big game, rare and endangered species, and other forms of wildlife, but historically the system’s emphasis has been on protecting migratory waterfowl. The stimulus for a system of migratory bird refuges came from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, but congressional authorization did not come until 1929 (Bean 1983, 120). The Migratory Bird Conservation Act created a Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, consisting of the secretaries of the interior (chairman), commerce, and agriculture and two members from the House of Representatives and two from the Senate, who “approved for purchase or rental...[or acquisition by] gift or devise, [areas] for use as inviolate sanctuaries for migratory birds.” A state representative was included, ex officio, “for the purpose of considering and voting on all questions relating to the acquisition...of areas in his State.” The act was subsequently amended to require the concurrence of the legislature of any state in which an acquisition was proposed (45 Stat. 1223) and to relax the prohibition against hunting on refuge lands. Hunting became permissible on up to 25 percent of a refuge in 1949 (63 Stat. 600), on up to 40 percent in 1958 (72 Stat. 486), on 40 percent if “compatible... with...major purposes for which...areas were established” in 1966 (80 Stat. 928), and on more than 40 percent if “beneficial to the species” in 1978 (92 Stat. 3114). The Migratory Bird Conservation Act was a good start. It had a treaty to back it up. It involved the executive and legislative branches of the federal government and a representative of state government in the decision making. It authorized gift, rental, or purchase. It remains the cornerstone of the National Wildlife Refuge System today; but it authorized only $200,000 per year for the entire system after 1939 (of which no more than 20 percent could be used for refuge administration and maintenance)—and that was dependent upon annual appropriations (45 Stat. 1224, 1225).

A solution to the fiscal problem came with passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act in 1934. Popularly known as the “duck stamp” law, this act (as amended in 1935) required all persons sixteen years of age and older to possess “an unexpired Federal migratory-bird hunting stamp validated by his signature written by himself in ink across the face of the stamp prior to [taking migratory waterfowl]” (48 Stat. 451). In 1934 a duck stamp cost $1.00. By 1987 the price had become $10.00; in 1989, $12.50; and in 1991 and thereafter, $15.00 (16 U.S.C. 7186(b)(1988)). Receipts are deposited in a special fund administered by the secretary of the interior to support the acquisition of migratory bird refuges and waterfowl production areas (72 Star. 486).

While the Duck Stamp Act helped a great deal, it did not provide sufficient funding to keep pace with inflation, offset effects of wetland destruction (Bean 1983, p. 216), and maintain the growing refuge system. Subsequently Congress passed the Wetlands Loan Act of 1961 (75 Stat. 813), which authorized an

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