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John F. Lacey | |
|---|---|
 Lacey,c. 1903 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's 6th district | |
| In office March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1891 | |
| Preceded by | James B. Weaver |
| Succeeded by | Frederick E. White |
| In office March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1907 | |
| Preceded by | Frederick E. White |
| Succeeded by | Daniel W. Hamilton |
| Member of theIowa House of Representatives | |
| In office 1870 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 30, 1841 |
| Died | September 29, 1913(1913-09-29) (aged 72) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Oskaloosa, Iowa |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Union Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Company C,33rd Iowa Infantry Regiment Company H,3rd Iowa Infantry Regiment |
| Battles/wars | |
John Fletcher Lacey (May 30, 1841 – September 29, 1913) was an eight-termRepublicanUnited Statescongressman fromIowa's 6th congressional district. He was also the author of theLacey Act of 1900, which made it a crime to shipillegalgame across state lines and to import injurious wildlife species, and theLacey Act of 1907, which further regulated the handling of tribal funds. As the first federal conservation law, the Lacey Act of 1900 remains one of the foundations ofconservation law enforcement.[1][2][3]
Lacey was born inNew Martinsville,Virginia (nowWest Virginia). He moved toIowa in 1855 with his parents, who settled inOskaloosa. He attended the common schools and pursued classical studies. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits, and learned the trades of bricklaying and plastering.
In the spring of 1861, when Lacey was twenty years old, theAmerican Civil War began. Lacey joined an infantry in theUnion Army in May 1861. He initially enlisted in Company H,3rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. During his time with the Third Iowa Infantry, he was captured at the Battle of Blue Mills. However, he was soon released on parole. He afterward served as sergeant major in Company D,33rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. According to the November 1903 Congressional Directory, Lacey was promoted to lieutenant and reassigned to Company C of that regiment, then "promoted to assistant adjutant-general on the staff ofBrig. Gen. Samuel A. Rice, and after that officer was killed in battle was assigned to duty on the staff ofMaj. Gen. Frederick Steele".[4] He remained in this position until the end of the war.
As the war concluded, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1865, and began to practice law in Oskaloosa. Five years later, he became a member of theIowa House of Representatives. He was elected to theIowa House of Representatives for a term beginning in 1870. He was later elected to the Oskaloosa City Council in 1880, serving until 1883. He served one term as city solicitor.
In 1878, he founded the town ofLacey, Iowa, to route theIowa Central Air Line Railroad.[5]
On April 12, 1902, Lacey accepted membership into theBoone and Crockett Club, a wildlife conservation organization founded byTheodore Roosevelt in 1887.[6]
In 1888, he was nominated by the Republican Party to challenge incumbentGreenback Party CongressmanJames Weaver, who was seeking re-election to his fourth term as representative of Iowa's 6th congressional district. Lacey unseated Weaver. Lacey served one term (as a member of theFifty-first United States Congress), but was defeated in the 1890 Democratic landslide by DemocratFrederick Edward White. Two years later, however, Lacey reclaimed his seat from White, and served seven consecutive terms, as a member of theFifty-third through theFifty-ninth Congresses. He served twelve years as the chairman of theCommittee on Public Lands, in the Fifty-fourth through Fifty-ninth Congresses. However, in 1906, when running for a ninth term, Lacey was unseated by DemocratDaniel W. Hamilton.
After leaving Congress, Lacey practiced law until his death in Oskaloosa on September 29, 1913.
Congressman Lacey was an enthusiastic defender ofYellowstone National Park and in 1894, in response to the inability of park administrators to punish poachers of the park's wildlife, Lacey sponsored legislation to give the Department of Interior authority arrest and prosecute law violators in the park.Although only known as the Lacey Act in the context of Yellowstone National Park, in May 1894 congress passedAn Act To protect the birds and animals in Yellowstone National Park, and to punish crimes in said park, and for other purposes. which became the cornerstone of future law enforcement policies in the park.[7]
Today, Congressman Lacey is most prominently known as the namesake of the Lacey Act of 1900. Lacey introduced the bill in the spring of 1900. It was signed into law on May 25, 1900, by PresidentWilliam McKinley after passing both houses of Congress.[8] The Act is now codified in two statutes. One is 16 U.S.C. §§ 3371–3378 as amended, which protects both plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for a wide array of violations.[8] Most notably, the Act prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold. The other statute is 18 U.S.C. §42, which prohibits the importation of injurious (harmful) wildlife species without a permit.[9]
Another major legislative initiative—also known as "The Lacey Act," but approved in the lame duck session after his 1906 defeat and signed into law in his final week in Congress—made provision for the allotment of tribal funds to certain classes of Indians. These provisions were proposed after the passage of theBurke Act and theDawes Act, both of which provided for the allotment of reservation lands to individual Indians, but not to communally owned trust funds. After much debate and several opposing arguments, PresidentTheodore Roosevelt signed the bill into law on March 2, 1907.[10]
Lacey is also significant in the history of theconservation movement for his role in writing (with the help ofanthropologistEdgar Lee Hewett) and enacting theAntiquities Act. The act has been pivotal to the preservation of majorarchaeological sites in theSouthwestern United States.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's 6th congressional district 1889–1891 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's 6th congressional district 1893–1907 | Succeeded by |
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