Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 45 Part 1.djvu/1274

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SEVENTIETH CONGRESS . SEss. II. CH. 257. 1929 .

1223 authorized to consider and pass upon any area of land, water, or land and water that may be recommended by the Secretary of Agriculture for purchase or rental und er this Act, a nd to fix the price or prices at which such area may be purchased or rented ; and no purchase or rental sha ll be made of any such area until it has been duly approved for purchase or rental by said commission . Any Member of the House of Representatives who is a member of the commission, if reelected to the succeeding Congress, may serve on the commission notwithstanding the expiration of a Congress . Any vacancy on the commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment . The ranking officer of the branch or department o f a State to which is comm itted the admi nistration of its game laws, or his authorized representative, and in a State having no such branch or department, the governor thereof, or his author- ized representative, shall be a member ex officio of said commission for the purpose of considering and voting on all questions relating to the acquis ition, under this Ac t, of areas i n his S tate . SEC. 3 . That the commission hereby created shall, through its chairman, annually report in detail to Congress, not later than the first Monday in December, the operatio ns of the comm ission during the preceding fiscal year . SEC. 4. That the Secretary of Agriculture shall recommend no area for purchase or rental under the terms of this Act except such as he shall determine is necessary for the conservation of migratory game birds . SEC . 5 . Tha t the Secreta ry of Agricult ure is author ized to pur- chase or rent such areas as have been approved for purchase or rental by the commission, at the price or prices fixed by said com- mission, and to acquire by gift or devise, for use as inviolate sanc- tuaries for mi gratory birds , areas which he shall dete rmine to be suitable for such purposes, and to pay the purchase or rental price and expenses incident to the location, examination, and survey of such areas and the acquisition of title thereto, including options when deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture, from moneys to be appropriated hereunder by Congress from time to time : Provided, That no lands acquired, held, or used by the United States for mili- tary purposes shall be subject to any of the provisions of this Act . SEC . 6 . That the Secretary of Agricultur e may do all things and make all expenditures necessary to secure the safe title in the United States to the areas which may be acquired under this Act, but no payment shall be made for any such areas until the title thereto shall be satisfactory to the Attorney General, but the acquisition of such areas by the United States shall in no case be defeated because of rights of way, easements, and reservations which from their nature will in the opinion of the Secretary of Agriculture in no manner interfere with the use of the areas so encumbered for the purposes of this Act ; but such rights of way, easements, and reser- vations retained by the grantor or lessor, from whom the United States receives title, shall be subject to rules and regulations pre- scribed from time to time by the Secre tary of Agricu lture for the occupation, use, operation, protection, and . administration of such areas as inviolate sanctuaries for migratory birds ; and it shall be expressed in the deed or lease that the use, occupation, and operation of such rights of way, easements, and reservations shall be subordi- nate to and subject to such rules and regulations . SEC. 7 . That no deed or instrument of conveyance shall be accepted by the Secretary of Agriculture under this Act unless the State in which the area lies shall have consented by law to the acquisition by the United States of lands in that State . Ex officio members from the States . Annual detailed re- port to Congress . Areas necessary for conservation of birds to be procured . Purchase or rent of areas approved by the Commission for sanctu- aries for migratory birds. Proviso . Use of milit ary lands forbidden . Safe title to be se- cured of acquired areas . Rights of way, etc ., provision. Con sent of Sta te required .