Administration of Wildlife Resources— Elkins 271 



fish, on the other hand, must depend on the plankton, bottom 

 fauna and small fish present, without the assistance of the ocean 

 to furnish tons of organic material. It is patent that lakes and 

 streams reflect the productivity of the land in their drainage. 

 A lake surrounded by rocky ridges and sparse spruce will be 

 relatively infertile and management must be geared to that 

 hard and uninviting fact. 



This then is the basic problem: the climate and soil of Alaska 

 is capable of producing on a sustained yield basis a low crop of 

 game and fish per unit of area. There are some important ex- 

 ceptions to this statement but successful management must 

 recognize the need to disperse hunting and fishing pressure 

 widely. Equally necessary is continued recognition that most 

 of the land in Alaska is better suited for producing a crop of 

 game and fur than for any other purpose. 



II. Animal Behavior Problems 



A second set of problems to which answers are badly needed 

 concern the behavior patterns of game animals. 



Caribou are the most numerous big game animals and the 

 least understood. For example we need to know what makes 

 the caribou run. We need to know why some caribou migrate 

 while others remain as resident herds. If anyone doubts the 

 importance of this line of investigation let him consider that we 

 now have three or possibly four caribou herds that migrate back 

 and forth across the Yukon— Alaska border. We need a great 

 deal more knowledge if these herds are to be perpetuated, har- 

 vested within reason, and protected properly on both sides of 

 the international boundary. 



According to Murie (2) the large caribou herd between the 

 Yukon and Tanana Rivers numbered between one-half and one 

 million animals. This herd is no longer present. There are 

 some indications that these caribou migrated northwest to the 

 Noatak Valley, an airline distance of nearly 600 miles. If they 

 did, think of the complexities that can arise when 100,000 or 

 more caribou leave one range and appear on an entirely differ- 

 ent range. Neither the native economy nor the machinery of 



