There is reserved and excepted from the unallotted lands now embraced within the Flathead Indian Reservation, in the State of Montana, a parcel not to exceed twenty thousand acres of said lands, near the confluence of the Pend d'Oreille and Jocko Rivers, for a permanent National Bison Range for the herd of bison presented by the American Bison Society. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to inclose said lands with a good and substantial fence and to erect thereon the necessary sheds and buildings for the proper care and maintenance of the said bison.
(May 23, 1908, ch. 192,
Act May 23, 1908, authorized President to reserve and except 12,800 acres, only, for the purposes of this section.
Act May 23, 1908, also made an appropriation to enable Secretary of the Interior to pay the confederated tribes of the Flathead, Kootenai, and Upper Pend d'Oreille, and such other Indians as rightfully belonged on the reservation, the appraised value of the lands which provision was omitted as temporary and executed.
Act Mar. 4, 1909, directed President to reserve and except a sufficient area to enlarge the range to not to exceed 20,000 acres.
Functions of Secretary of Agriculture relating to conservation of wildlife, game, and migratory birds transferred to Secretary of the Interior by Reorg. Plan No. II of 1939, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.