State Rights Versus the Federal Government

By executive order of March 14, 1939 President Roosevelt established the Necedah Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, an area of some 40,500 acres in Wisconsin. Many American foresters, particularly state foresters, have followed with interest the federal government's program for retiring submarginal lands from agriculture. The following opinion of the Attorney General of Wisconsin is published because it has a significant bearing on this refnge. The Wisconsin Conservation Commission is not adverse to the establishment of a federal migratory waterfowl refuge under conditions mutually satisfactory to the federal government and the state, provided the refuge is limited to that portion of the area suitable for migratory waterfowl. The area as proclaimed contains a large acreage primarily valuable for upland game birds. It is the Attorney General's opinion that the State of Wisconsin has not ceded to the federal government jurisdiction over the area known as the Necedah Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.