Proclamation 2752—Amendment of Regulations Relating to Migratory Birds and Game Mammals

Whereas the Secretary of the Interior has adopted and has submitted to me for approval the following amendment of the regulations approved by Proclamation No. 2739 of July 31, 1947, as amended by Proclamation No. 2747 of September 27, 1947, relating to migratory birds and game mammals included in the terms of the Convention between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds concluded August 16, 1916, and the Convention between the United States and the United Mexican States for the protection of migratory birds and certain game mammals concluded February 7, 1936:

AMENDMENT OF MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR

By virtue of and pursuant to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of July 3, 1918 (40 Stat. 755), and Reorganization Plan II (53 Stat. 1431), and having determined, in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act of June 11, 1946 (Public Law No. 404-79th Congress), that the amendment adopted herein is corrective of an emergency condition and that further notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable and unnecessary, I, J. A. Krug, Secretary of the Interior, 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 migratory birds included in the terms of the Convention between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds, concluded August 16, 1916, and the Convention between the United States and the United Mexican States for the protection of migratory birds and game mammals, concluded February 7, 1936, have determined when, to what extent, and by what means it is compatible with the terms of the said Act and conventions to allow the hunting, taking, capture, killing, possession, sale, purchase, shipment, transportation, carriage, exportation, and importation of such birds and parts thereof and their nests and eggs, and in accordance with such determinations, do hereby amend the regulations approved by Proclamation No. 2739 of July 31, 1947, as amended by Proclamation No. 2747 of September 237, 1947, by adding to Regulation 4 under the heading "Woodcock" the following:

"Provided, however, that in those States where hunting has been prohibited by State action by reason of emergency fire-hazard conditions, the open seasons specified in these regulations may be extended or reopened for periods not to exceed the numbers of days during which hunting has been prohibited by State action, and provided that such extension or reopening will not result in a diminution of the abundance of birds to any greater extent than that contemplated under the original hunting season. Any such extended or reopened season shall be determined, fixed, and announced by the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the conservation agency of the State in which the emergency condition has existed, in accordance with the provisions of this regulation."

This amendment is in accordance with the recommendations of the several State conservation departments affected thereby and, in view of the nature of the emergency condition intended to be corrected, it has been determined that this amendment shall become effective immediately upon publication thereof in the Federal Register.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of the Department of the Interior to be affixed, this 24th day of October, 1947.

J. A. KRUG,

Secretary of the Interior.

And Whereas upon consideration it appears that approval of the foregoing amendment will effectuate the purposes of the aforesaid Migratory Bird Treaty Act:

Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 3 of the said Migratory Bird Treaty Act of July 3, 1918, do hereby approve and proclaim the foregoing amendment.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 28th day of October in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-second.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

ROBERT A. LOVETT,

Acting Secretary of State.