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Mr. MARTIN. In principle, it is perfectly correct to have the authority to close them whenever it would appear that the pressure was too high. I would like to leave it within the discretion of the Secretary and his staff. It takes a considerable time to determine whether there is a decline. You may have a good crop in the early season but then disease may enter and you have a decline. But if this is observed in particular shooting grounds and it is found that the population is too low for shooting, it should be closed when that is determined. If it has to be proven that there is a decline there would be an unnecessary depletion. If it is left to the Secretary to write up a report on the conditions in the week or month, it seems to me it would give a more efficient manner of determining the question and would avoid argument.

The difficulty is that migratory waterfowl are gregarious. They are inclined to congregate in very large flocks and probably where the gunning is high. If it is left to the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior instead of providing that there is a Nation-wide decline I think it would be better.

Senator ROBERTSON. You know this language is limited to its use in a given area. Scientific studies are now being made of the ability of migratory birds to navigate and many assume that instinct would tell them where to go and that they could fly a bee line over that course where they had never been before.

Recent studies would seem to indicate that a migratory bird has a photographic eye and an indelible memory. When it flies over a territory once it never forgets, apparently.

Quite a long time back, birds from breeding areas started flying south and found acceptable territories there. Then they would go home and they would lead the new group over that same area and the new crop would have an indelible memory of that area. But if you take the birds off that area they have difficulty in finding their way to another good one.

Mr. MARTIN. That is right.

Senator ROBERTSON. And if they fly back to the breeding area they know and there is no water, that is where the new crop perishes. Mr. MARTIN. That is correct.

Senator ROBERTSON. That is the new theory of why they go south and come back home in the spring.

Mr. MARTIN. You are very correct.

I would very much approve of an insertion in section 8 that is much more important than the words it takes to explain it. The regulation proposed becomes an ambassador of good will to our two neighboring countries and the fund will actually create more good will than the actual dollars spent in the nesting grounds of Canada if we have such funds available to be used at the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior. He would, no doubt, offer to match dollars or pay a portion of a project studied by both Canada and America. But to have such funds when there was an important and pressing problem in the nesting grounds would be very beneficial to the relations between the countries. So, I want to go on record as approving very heartily. Likewise, we have been losing several areas in our wintering grounds. Several of these wintering grounds are being lost by the inroads of civilization where the people want to drain swamps and other habitats of the birds where there is fresh water and food.

Mexico has become a problem and if we can improve our relations with our greater skill and experience we could go into Mexico and, perhaps, in some of the important problems of wintering grounds, we could contribute part of the funds and, if necessary, the total amount. It would be an excellent thing to do. The people of Mexico, whenever we go down there, always know this is a friendly opportunity to seek more activities in their country which, after all, is for the good of the migratory birds.

If that can be inserted in the present stamp law I think it will be very beneficial. That is the comment I have to make on this important bill and I hope it will become law.

Senator ROBERTSON. You recently attended a dinner of Ducks Unlimited when sportsmen from various parts of the country were here?

Mr. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. Did you make an occasion then to discuss with them the proposal to raise the stamp and use the money as you indicated?

Mr. MARTIN. Yes, sir. The Ducks Unlimited trustees discussed this bill at some length in principle and there was the question of the poor hunter who always is broke. But there is so much benefit to come from the bill that they thought the great majority of the hunters would approve such a bill.

Ducks Unlimited following their policy, however, of not wanting to in any way influence legislation or regulations, could not, as a body, take a position. So, it was decided that if some of us wanted to appear as individuals, of course, that would be all right. But as a corporation, they did not feel that they should enter into any part of the promotion of the bill

Senator ROBERTSON. Speaking of the poor hunter-and I know "the poor are always with us" and we do not want to do anything to oppress the poor-how far does the average duck hunter have to travel to where he can shoot some ducks?

Mr. MARTIN. I don't know what the average would be. But the average mileage he is traveling now is many times the mileage he traveled in past years. We are constantly expanding our road systems farther back into the hunting areas and, of course, we have the airplanes which can take hunters anywhere who can afford that kind of transportation. So, the opportunities for shooting, in point of concentration, are much greater now than they ever have been in the past.

Senator ROBERTSON. Well, living in the valley of Virginia, I usually travel 200 miles-400 miles with return trip-which at 5 cents a mile is $20. I only buy one box of shells. What will that cost me for a high-powered No. 12?

Mr. MARTIN. The average hunter will spend $25 per day and though he may give $2 for a stamp, he doesn't kick at the $25 per day. That includes his travel and shooting and flying that goes with it.

Senator ROBERTSON. He will pay $2 for a box of shells?

Mr. MARTIN. Yes.

Senator ROBERTSON. And if I want a guide that is $15 per day.
Mr. MARTIN. Yes.

Senator ROBERTSON. And if I want to belong to a duck club it means more than $15 per day?

Mr. MARTIN. Among the men who can afford clubs, the cost is about $200 per day average for the days they shoot.

Senator ROBERTSON. And if he spends $200 he gets a blind look at the sky; and if he spends $2 more he can get some ducks.

Mr. MARTIN. Thank you. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to be here.

Senator ROBERTSON. Dr. Day, on the 29th of March, I believe, at my request, you furnished the clerk of this committee a more voluminous report of your activities than you gave us this morning. Is that correct?

Dr. DAY. That is correct, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. If there is no objection, I would like to insert in the record this morning a brief summary that I made of that report so that those who approach the full report may have an easy index of what it contains. (See p. 307 for the summary.)

Dr. Day, I hand you the report that you submitted to this committee, and I would ask that you offer that for the record at this point. First, identify the report.

Dr. DAY. This is the report we have submitted, and I hereby offer it for the record.

(The report submitted by Dr. Day follows:)

1948 REPORT, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, TO THE SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

(The first part of the report consists of the annual report of the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1947, and a booklet published by the Wildlife_Management Institute entitled "Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration, Annual Report of the PittmanRobertson Program for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1947." These printed documents are available for distribution by the Fish and Wildlife Service and hence are not reproduced here.)

LANDS ADMINISTERED BY THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

The Fish and Wildlife Service controlled as of June 30, 1947, approximately 18,598,329 acres of land comprising some 257 refuges, wildlife-management areas, and administrative sites. Of the total acreage, 1,307,195 acres was purchased by this Service at a cost of $8,689,447; 428,986 acres was acquired by gift; 16,405,274 acres is administered under executive or public land order, and 456,874 acres is administered under lease agreements.

During the calendar year 1947 the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission met once and approved the purshase of 16 tracts of land totalling 2,261 acres at a cost of $31,597, the acquisition by gift of one tract of 1,788 acres, and the leasing. of 2 tracts totaling 3,154 acres at an annual rental of $14.

There is attached a copy of a multilith report showing as of June 30, 1947, areas of wildlife refuge, management, and administrative site lands.

Areas of national wildlife refuge units showing control on public-domain lands, and including costs of service-acquired lands, June 30, 1947

Symbols designating agency having primary jurisdiction over certain refuge areas:

R: Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior.
E: Corps of Engineers, Department of War.

CG: Coast Guard, Treasury Department.
N: Department of the Navy.

GS: Geological Survey, Department of the Interior.

AI: Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture.
LM: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.
T: Tennessee Valley Authority.

IBC: International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico.

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Areas of national wildlife refuge units showing control on public-domain lands, and including costs of service-acquired lands, June 30,1947-Con.

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