208 ARTICLE 19A.

servation Commissioner, under any provisions of law, shall be transferred
to and thereafter be exercised and performed by the said Conservation
Commission as created by this Act, who shall be the lawful successor of
the said Conservation Commissioner, to the same extent and effect as if
the said Conservation Commission had been named in said provisions of
law as the body or official upon whom the said rights, powers, duties,
obligations and functions were conferred.

The Power to Regulate Taking Wild Birds, Wild Animals and Fish.
Having a due regard for the distribution, abundance, economic value and
breeding habits of wild birds, wild animals, and fish in inland waters, the
Conservation Commission as a part of the duties imposed on it by Article
39, Section 3, of the Code, is hereby vested with the necessary power and
authority to determine when, to what extent, if at all, and by what means
it is desirable to restrict, or prohibit in any degree the provisions of law
obtaining in any county in this State for the hunting, taking, capture,
killing, possession, sale, purchase, shipment, transportation, carriage or
export of any wild bird, wild animal, or fish from non-tidal waters and
may upon its own initiative or upon written petition of fifty licensed
residents of any county propose regulations for such purpose. The full
text of any regulations proposed shall be published ten days before the
same may be acted upon and shall name the time and place that the
matters mentioned therein will be taken up, at which time any interested
citizen shall be heard. Such publication shall be made in a newspaper
published in the county, and, if there be none such, in a newspaper in the
adjoining county or section or in such other manner as may be convenient.
If the commission is satisfied that the proposed regulation, or any part
thereof is advisable, such regulation, or any part thereof, may be adopted
and if so, it shall be published in the manner directed for proposing the
same and shall name the date when it is to become effective. It shall be
a misdemeanor to violate such regulation, or any part thereof, and any
person convicted of such violation shall be fined not less than ten or more
than one hundred dollars and may be sentenced to thirty days in jail,
either, or both. A copy of any regulation adopted by the commission shall
be mailed to the clerk of the circuit court, who shall make a record thereof
and cause the same to be posted in front of the courthouse of the county. ¹
As to duties of Conservation Commission relative to fish and fisheries, see
art. 39.

Rare Earths and Minerals.

1929, ch. 574, sec. 13.

13. Every person, firm, association or corporation taking any minerals,
or rare earths, under the provisions of this sub-title, shall file, on or before

¹ Secs. 2 and 3 of ch. 523 of acts of 1935 abolished the office of Conservation Com-
missioner and provided that the word "Commission" shall be substituted for the
word "Commissioner" wherever it occurs in this article.

Sec. 4 of said ch. 523 provides that all acts heretofore enacted not inconsistent
therewith shall continue in full force and effect.