An Act to protect the birds and animals in Yellowstone National
Park, and to punish crimes in said Park, and for other purposes.
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That the Yellowstone National
Park, as its boundaries now are defined, or as they may be hereafter
defined or extended, shall be under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction
of the United States; and that all the laws applicable to places under
the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States shall have
force and effect in said Park: _Provided, however_, That nothing in this
Act shall be construed to forbid the service in the Park of any civil or
criminal process of any court having jurisdiction in the States of
Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. All fugitives from justice taking refuge in
said Park shall be subject to the same laws as refugees from justice
found in the State of Wyoming.
SEC. 2. That said Park, for all the purposes of this Act, shall
constitute a part of the United States judicial district of Wyoming, and
the district and circuit courts of the United States in and for said
district shall have jurisdiction of all offenses committed within said
Park.
SEC. 3. That if any offense shall be committed in said Yellowstone
National Park, which offense is not prohibited or the punishment is not
specially provided for by any law of the United States or by any
regulation of the Secretary of the Interior, the offender shall be
subject to the same punishment as the laws of the State of Wyoming in
force at the time of the commission of the offense may provide for a
like offense in the said State; and no subsequent repeal of any such law
of the State of Wyoming shall affect any prosecution for said offense
committed within said Park.
SEC. 4. That all hunting, or the killing, wounding, or capturing at any
time of any bird or wild animal, except dangerous animals, when it is
necessary to prevent them from destroying human life or inflicting an
injury, is prohibited within the limits of said Park; nor shall any fish
be taken out of the waters of the Park by means of seines, nets, traps,
or by the use of drugs or any explosive substances or compounds, or in
any other way than by hook and line, and then only at such seasons and
in such times and manner as may be directed by the Secretary of the
Interior. That the Secretary of the Interior shall make and publish such
rules and regulations as he may deem necessary and proper for the
management and care of the Park, and for the protection of the property
therein, especially for the preservation from injury or spoliation of
all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonderful objects
within said Park; and for the protection of the animals and birds in the
Park from capture or destruction, or to prevent their being frightened
or driven from the Park; and he shall make rules and regulations
governing the taking of fish from the streams or lakes in the Park.
Possession within the said Park of the dead bodies, or any part thereof,
of any wild bird or animal shall be _prima facie_ evidence that the
person or persons having the same are guilty of violating this Act. Any
person or persons, or stage or express company or railway company,
receiving for transportation any of the said animals, birds or fish so
killed, taken or caught shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and
shall be fined for every such offense not exceeding three hundred
dollars. Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of
this Act, or any rule or regulation that may be promulgated by the
Secretary of the Interior with reference to the management and care of
the Park, or for the protection of the property therein, for the
preservation from injury or spoliation of timber, mineral deposits,
natural curiosities or wonderful objects within said Park, or for the
protection of the animals, birds and fish in the said Park, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be subjected to a fine of not
more than one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding two years,
or both, and be adjudged to pay all costs of the proceedings.
That all guns, traps, teams, horses, or means of transportation of every
nature or description used by any person or persons within said Park
limits, when engaged in killing, trapping, ensnaring or capturing such
wild beasts, birds, or wild animals, shall be forfeited to the United
States, and may be seized by the officers in said Park and held pending
the prosecution of any person or persons arrested under charge of
violating the provisions of this Act, and upon conviction under this Act
of such person or persons using said guns, traps, teams, horses, or
other means of transportation, such forfeiture shall be adjudicated as a
penalty in addition to the other punishment provided in this Act. Such
forfeited property shall be disposed of and accounted for by and under
the authority of the Secretary of the Interior.
SEC. 5. That the United States circuit court in said district shall
appoint a commissioner, who shall reside in the Park, who shall have
jurisdiction to hear and act upon all complaints made, of any and all
violations of the law, or of the rules and regulations made by the
Secretary of the Interior for the government of the Park, and for the
protection of the animals, birds and fish, and objects of interest
therein, and for other purposes authorized by this Act. Such
commissioner shall have power, upon sworn information, to issue process
in the name of the United States for the arrest of any person charged
with the commission of any misdemeanor, or charged with the violation of
the rules and regulations, or with the violation of any provision of
this Act prescribed for the government of said Park, and for the
protection of the animals, birds and fish in the said Park, and to try
the person so charged; and, if found guilty, to impose the punishment
and adjudge the forfeiture prescribed. In all cases of conviction an
appeal shall lie from the judgment of said commissioner to the United
States district court for the district of Wyoming, said appeal to be
governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming providing for appeals in
cases of misdemeanor from justices of the peace to the district court of
said State; but the United States circuit court in said district may
prescribe rules of procedure and practice for said commissioner in the
trial of cases and for appeal to said United States district court. Said
commissioner shall also have power to issue process as hereinbefore
provided for the arrest of any person charged with the commission of any
felony within the Park, and to summarily hear the evidence introduced,
and, if he shall determine that probable cause is shown for holding the
person so charged for trial, shall cause such person to be safely
conveyed to a secure place for confinement, within the jurisdiction of
the United States district court in said State of Wyoming, and shall
certify a transcript of the record of his proceedings and the testimony
in the case to the said court, which court shall have jurisdiction of
the case: _Provided_, That the said commissioner shall grant bail in all
cases bailable under the laws of the United States or of said State. All
process issued by the commissioner shall be directed to the marshal of
the United States for the district of Wyoming; but nothing herein
contained shall be construed as preventing the arrest by any officer of
the Government or employee of the United States in the Park without
process of any person taken in the act of violating the law or any
regulation of the Secretary of the Interior: _Provided_, That the said
commissioner shall only exercise such authority and powers as are
conferred by this Act.
SEC. 6. That the marshal of the United States for the district of
Wyoming may appoint one or more deputy marshals for said Park, who shall
reside in said Park, and the said United States district and circuit
courts shall hold one session of said courts annually at the town of
Sheridan, in the State of Wyoming, and may also hold other sessions at
any other place in said State of Wyoming or in said National Park at
such dates as the said courts may order.
SEC. 7. That the commissioner provided for in this Act shall, in
addition to the fees allowed by law to commissioners of the circuit
courts of the United States, be paid an annual salary of one thousand
dollars, payable quarterly, and the marshal of the United States and his
deputies, and the attorney of the United States and his assistants in
said district, shall be paid the same compensation and fees as are now
provided by law for like services in said district.
SEC. 8. That all costs and expenses arising in cases under this Act, and
properly chargeable to the United States, shall be certified, approved
and paid as like costs and expenses in the courts of the United States
are certified, approved and paid under the laws of the United States.
SEC. 9. That the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be erected in
the Park a suitable building to be used as a jail, and also having in
said building an office for the use of the commissioner; the cost of
such building not to exceed five thousand dollars, to be paid out of any
moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated upon the certificate
of the Secretary as a voucher therefor.
SEC. 10. That this Act shall not be construed to repeal existing laws
conferring upon the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of War
certain powers with reference to the protection, improvement and control
of the said Yellowstone National Park.
Approved May 7, 1894.