822.623/3
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador (Lindsay)
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the British Ambassador and, referring to Note Verbale No. 176 from the British Embassy, dated June 21, 1935, in regard to a proposal to establish some sort of protection for the fauna of the Galápagos Islands, has the honor to inform him that the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution reports that, so far as he is informed, the originators of a proposal to protect the fauna of the Galápagos Islands were Dr. Harry S. Swarth,21 Dr. Charles K. Townsend,22 Dr. V. M. Egas, formerly Consul of Ecuador in Los Angeles, and the American Committee for International Wild Life Protection. It is believed that the Carnegie Institute of Washington and possibly the American Museum of Natural History in New York also may be interested in the proposal.
[Page 523]The Government of the United States has interest in every endeavor for the protection of wild life on this hemisphere, and is in sympathy with the efforts that have been made by private individuals and institutions to establish some sort of protection for the fauna of the Galápagos Islands. This Government understands that preliminary legislation by the Ecuadoran Government already has provided regulations to create certain reservations in the Galápagos Islands and to preserve the rare zoological species which exist there.
The Government of the United States is deeply appreciative of the courteous invitation to associate itself with His Britannic Majesty’s Government in ascertaining the views of the Government of Ecuador on this subject, but since the efforts made by private individuals and institutions have resulted in action by the Ecuadoran Government looking toward national control, it regrets that it does not deem it advisable to instruct the American Minister at Quito to address an inquiry to the Ecuadoran Government regarding international control for the preservation of the fauna of the Galápagos Islands.