PART III WILDLIFE A. Migratory bird authorities 1. MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT Act of July 3, 1918 (40 Stat. 755), as amended (16 U.S.C. 703-711) SHORT TITLE SECTION 1. This Act shall be known by the short title of the "Migratory Bird Treaty Act". TABLE OF CONTENTS Sec. 2. Taking, killing, or possessing migratory birds unlawful. Sec. 3. Determination as to when and how migratory birds may be taken, killed, or possessed. Sec. 4. Transportation or importation of migratory birds; when unlawful. Sec. 5. Arrests; search warrants. Sec. 6. Violations and penalties; forfeitures. Sec. 7. State or Territorial laws or regulations. Sec. 8. Migratory birds, nests, or eggs for scientific or propagating purposes. Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 10. Partial invalidity. Sec. 11. Inconsistent laws repealed. Sec. 12. Breeding and sale for food supply. Sec. 13. Effective date. TAKING, KILLING, OR POSSESSING MIGRATORY BIRDS UNLAWFUL SEC. 2. Unless and except as permitted by regulations made as hereinafter provided in this Act, it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to barter, barter, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, export, import, cause to be shipped, exported, or imported, deliver for transportation, transport or cause to be transported, carry or cause to be carried, or receive for shipment, transportation, carriage, or export, any migratory bird, or any part, nest, or egg of any such birds, included in the terms of the conventions between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds concluded August 16, 1916 (39 Stat. 1702), and the United States and the United Mexican States for the protection of migra tory birds and game mammals concluded February 7, 1936. (July 3, 1918, c. 128, § 2, 40 Stat. 755; June 20, 1936, c. 634, § 3, 49 Stat. 1556.) 213 HISTORICAL NOTE 1936 Amendment.-Act June 20, 1936, made changes in phraseology. Effective Date of 1936 Amendment.-Section 1 of Act June 20, 1936, provided that the amendment of this section and sections 3, 4, 6, 7 and the addition of section 9 by that_Act, should become effective as of the day on which the President should proclaim the exchange of ratifications of the convention between the United States and the United Mexican States for the protection of migratory birds and game mammals concluded February 7, 1936 (50 Stat. 1311) or on June 20, 1936, "whichever date is later." DETERMINATION AS TO WHEN AND HOW MIGRATORY BIRDS MAY BE TAKEN, KILLED, OR POSSESSED SEC. 3. Subject to the provisions and in order to carry out the purposes of the conventions, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed, from time to time, having due regard to the zones of temperature and to the distribution, abundance, economic value, breeding habits, and times and lines of migratory flight of such birds, to determine when, to what extent, if at all, and by what means, it is compatible with the terms of the conventions to allow hunting, taking, capture, killing, possession, sale, purchase, shipment, transportation, carriage, or export of any such bird, or any part, nest, or egg thereof, and to adopt suitable regulations permitting and governing the same, in accordance with such determinations, which regulations shall become effective when approved by the President. July 3, 1918, c. 128, § 3, 40 Stat. 755; June 20, 1936, c. 634, § 2, 49 Stat. 1556; 1939 Reorg. Plan No. II, § 4(f), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 F.R. 2731, 53 Stat. 1433.) HISTORICAL NOTE 1936 Amendment.-Act June 20, 1936, amended section by substituting the word "conventions" for "convention" wherever occurring therein. DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS Executive Order 10250 (3 CFR 755, 1949–1953 Comp.) "By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 11 of the act of February 22, 1935, 49 Stat. 33, and section 1 of the act of August 8, 1950, 64 Stat. 419 (Public Law 673, 81st Congress), and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: * "2. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby designated and empowered to perform, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the following functions which have heretofore, under the respective provisions of law cited, required the approval, ratification, or other action of the "(b) The authority vested in the Secretary of the Interior by section 3 of the act of July 3, 1918 ch. 128, 40 Stat. 755, as amended, and as affected by section 4(f) of Reorganization Plan No. II, effective July 1, 1939, 53 Stat. 1433 (16 U.S.C. 704), to promulgate regulations permitting and governing the hunting, taking, capture, killing, possession, sale, purchase, shipment, transportation, carriage, or export of any migratory bird included in the terms of certain conventions, or any part, nest, or egg thereof. "3. As used in this order, the term 'functions' embraces duties, powers, responsibilities, authority, or discretion, and the term 'perform' may be construed to mean 'exercise'. "4. All actions heretofore taken by the President in respect of the matters affected by this order and in force at the time of the issuance of this order, including regulations prescribed by the President in respect of such matters, shall, except as they may be inconsistent with the provisions of this order, remain in effect until modified or revoked pursuant to the authority conferred by this order." THE WHITE HOUSE, June 5, 1951. HARRY S. TRUMAN. TRANSPORTATION OR IMPORTATION OF MIGRATORY BIRDS; WHEN UNLAWFUL SEC. 4. It shall be unlawful to ship, transport, or carry, by any means whatever, from one State, Territory, or district to or through another State, Territory, or district, or to or through a foreign country, any bird, or any part, nest, or egg thereof, captured, killed, taken, shipped, transported, or carried at any time contrary to the laws of the State, Territory, or district in which it was captured, killed, or taken, or from which it was shipped, transported, or carried. It shall be unlawful to import any bird, or any part, nest, or egg thereof, captured, killed, taken, shipped, transported, or carried contrary to the laws of any Province of the Dominion of Canada in which the same was captured, killed, or taken, or from which it was shipped, transported, or carried. It shall be unlawful to import into the United States from Mexico, or to export from the United States to Mexico, any game mammal, dead or alive, or parts or products thereof, except under permit or authorization of the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with such regulations as he shall prescribe having due regard to the laws of the United Mexican States relating to the exportation and importation of such mammals or parts or products thereof and the laws of the State, District, or Territory of the United States from or into which such mammals, parts, or products thereof, are proposed to be exported or imported, and the laws of the United States forbidding importation of certain live mammals injurious to the interests of agriculture and horticulture, which regulations shall become effective as provided in section 3 of this Act. (July 3, 1918, c. 128, § 4, 40 Stat. 755; June 20, 1936, c. 634, § 4, 49 Stat. 1556; 1939 Reorg. Plan No. II, § 4(f), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 F.R. 2731, 53 Stat. 1433.) HISTORICAL NOTE 1936 Amendment.—Act June 20, 1936, amended section by adding last sentence. ARRESTS; SEARCH WARRANTS SEC. 5. Any employee of the Department of the Interior authorized by the Secretary of the Interior to enforce the provisions of this Act shall have power, without warrant, to arrest any person committing a violation of said sections in his presence or view and to take such person immediately for examination or trial before an officer or court of competent jurisdiction; shall have power to execute any warrant or other process issued by an officer or court of competent jurisdiction for the enforcement of the provisions of said sections; and shall have authority, with a search warrant, to search any place. The several judges of the courts established under the laws of the United States, and United States commissioners may, within their respective jurisdictions, upon proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause, issue warrants in all such cases. All birds, or parts, nests, or eggs thereof, captured, killed, taken, shipped, transported, carried, or possessed contrary to the provisions of said Act or of any regulations made pursuant thereto shall, when found, be seized by any such employee, or by any marshal or deputy marshal, and, upon conviction of the offender or upon judgment of a court of the United States that the same were captured, killed, taken, shipped, transported, carried, or possessed contrary to the provisions of said Act or of any regulation made pursuant thereto, shall be forfeited to the United States and disposed of as directed by the court having jurisdiction. (July 3, 1918, c. 128, § 5, 40 Stat. 756; 1939 Reorg. Plan No. II, § 4(f), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 F.R. 2731, 53 Stat. 1433.) VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES: FORFEITURES SEC. 6. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any person, association, partnership, or corporation who shall violate any provisions of said conventions or of this Act, or who shall violate or fail to comply with any regulation made pursuant to this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $500 or be imprisoned not more than six months, or both. (b) Whoever, in violation of this Act, shall (1) take by any manner whatsoever any migratory bird with intent to sell, offer to sell, barter or offer to barter such bird, or (2) sell, offer for sale, barter or offer to barter, any migratory bird shall be guilty of a felony and shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. (c) All guns, traps, nets and other equipment, vessels, vehicles, and other means of transportation used by any person when engaged in pursuing, hunting, taking, trapping, ensnaring, capturing, killing, or attempting to take, capture, or kill any migratory bird in violation of this Act with the intent to offer for sale, or sell, or offer for barter, or barter such birds in violation of this Act shall be forfeited to the United States and may be seized and held pending the prosecution of any person arrested for violating this Act and upon conviction for such violation, such forfeiture shall be adjudicated as a penalty in addition to any other provided for violation of this Act. Such forfeited property shall be disposed of and accounted for by, and under the authority of, the Secretary of the Interior. STATE OR TERRITORIAL LAWS OR REGULATIONS SEC. 7. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the several States and Territories from making or enforcing laws or regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of said conventions or of said Act, or from making or enforcing laws or regulations which shall give further protection to migratory birds, their nests, and eggs, if such laws or regulations do not extend the open seasons for such birds beyond the dates approved by the President in accordance with section 3 of this Act. (July 3, 1918, c. 128, § 7, 40 Stat. 756; June 20, 1936, c. 634, § 2, 49 Stat. 1556.) MIGRATORY BIRDS, NESTS, OR EGGS FOR SCIENTIFIC OR PROPAGATING PURPOSES SEC. 8. That until the adoption and approval, pursuant to section three of this Act, of regulations dealing with migratory birds and their nests and eggs, such migratory birds and their nests and eggs as are intended and used exclusively for scientific or propagating purposes may be taken, captured, killed, possessed, sold, purchased, shipped, and transported for such scientific or propagating purposes if and to the extent not in conflict with the laws of the State, Territory, or District in which they are taken, captured, killed, possessed, sold, or purchased, or in or from which they are shipped or transported if the packages containing the dead bodies or the nests or eggs of such birds when shipped and transported shall be marked on the outside thereof so as accurately and clearly to show the name and address of the shipper and the contents of the package. HISTORICAL NOTE Section, Act July 3, 1918, c. 128 § 8, 40 Stat. 756, authorized taking and use of migratory birds, nests, or eggs for scientific or propagating purposes until adoption and approval pursuant to section 3 of this Act of regulations dealing therewith. Regulations were promulgated by Proc. July 31, 1918, 40 Stat. 1812. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS SEC. 9. There is authorized to be appropriated, from time to time, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such amounts as may be necessary to carry out the provisions and to accomplish the purposes of said conventions and of this Act and regulations |