In 1886, he became the first chief of the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States Department of Agriculture, predecessor to the National Wildlife Research Center and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
1886 wurde er der erste Leiter der Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy im Landwirtschaftsministerium der Vereinigten Staaten, Vorläufer des heutigen National Wildlife Research Center und des United States Fish and Wildlife Service.