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CONSERVATION CORNER
(For the week of September 7, 2009)
Wildlife Laws In The United States
by James L. Cummins

As we begin this year's hunting season, it is proper to reflect back as to how we got here. It was mainly because of our nation's wildlife laws, which actually got its beginning in Mississippi. In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt came to Mississippi and went bear hunting. Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear and the story spread and hence the "teddy bear" was born to honor Roosevelt's conservation ethic.

Roosevelt was the pioneer of our first environmental agenda. In 1905, he worked with Congress to create federal wildlife reserves. He created the Forest Service.

Since that time, many laws have been passed for wildlife protection, restoration and enhancement. Wildlife that is non-migratory is the responsibility of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, who sets hunting seasons, bag limits and other regulations for Mississippi.

Migratory wildlife, such as ducks and doves, are the responsibility of the federal government. The major federal laws are the Lacey Act, Migratory Game Bird Treaty Act, Migratory Bird Hunting Act, Pittman-Robertson Act, Marine Mammals Protection Act, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act.

The Lacey Act, which was passed in 1900, prohibits the interstate transportation of illegally killed wildlife. This Act was passed to aid in curtailing market hunting.

In 1918 the Migratory Game Bird Treaty Act was passed. It allowed the United States to enter into a treaty with Canada to prohibit the killing of migratory birds for commercial reasons. This Act also places other restrictions on the taking of migratory birds.

In 1934, the Migratory Bird Hunting Act was passed; it requires duck hunters over the age of 16 to purchase a duck stamp before they hunt. Money from the sale of the stamps raises funds for refuges for migratory birds. The expenditure of such funds must be approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission; Senator Thad Cochran is one of the two Senators on it.

In 1937 the Pittman-Robertson Act was passed. The Act, which generates federal funds from taxes on hunting equipment, distributes funds to states based on land area and the number of licensed hunters. The equivalent on the fishing side is Wallop-Breaux, or the Sport Fishing Restoration Act.

In 1969, the Endangered Species Act was signed by President Richard Nixon. Later, Nixon signed the Clean Water Act.

Marine mammals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. This Act protects a variety of marine mammals such as the walrus and polar bear, of which fellow Mississippian Dan Guravich was famous for photographing.