PRESSING PROBLEMS IN ADMINISTRATION OF 

 WILDLIFE RESOURCES IN ALASKA 



W. A. Elkins 



Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Juneau, Alaska 



Administration of fish and wildlife resources in Alaska is a 

 function of a federal agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service. 

 Since Alaska is a territory the Service is operating both as the 

 federal wildlife agency and the Game and Fish Department as 

 constituted in many states. In addition, a regulatory and policy- 

 making body, the Alaska Game Commission, represents the 

 people of each of the four judicial divisions of Alaska. In 

 Alaska, the Service is organized in three operating divisions: 

 commercial fisheries, law enforcement and wildlife manage- 

 ment. 



To describe adequately the range of problems would require 

 first a description of the varied wildlife habitats from the dense 

 coastal rain forests of southeastern Alaska to the Arctic tundra 

 and the variation from the windswept treeless heath of the 

 Aleutians to the dry cold interior. Instead I have chosen here 

 to consider three types of problems: those involving land and 

 climate, problems of animal behavior and those wildlife prob- 

 lems brought about by the human population. There are im- 

 portant differences and many similarities to stateside wildlife 

 problems. One difference can best be understood by comparing 

 the motives of the stateside hunter and the Alaska hunter. Here 

 in Washington the term "meat hunter" would be generally 

 regarded as a form of name-calling with considerable stigma 

 attached. Most Alaskan hunters would consider it a compli- 

 ment and look down their noses at the "sportsman" or "sport 

 hunter." We are dealing with a resource that means food and 

 clothing to the people and not with game harvested by a recre- 

 ational group out for a weekend pheasant hunt. Fish, fur and 



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