BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



449 



Ivind of fur. 



Muskrat 



Blue fox 



White fox 



Red fox 



Silver-gray fox 

 Cross fox 



Number. 



313, 145 



1,080 



4,393 



5,979 



291 



740 



Value. 



$391,431 



118, 800 



175, 720 



110,611 



58, 200 



29,600 



Kind of fur. 



Beaver 



Land otter 



Mink 



Marten 



Weasel (ermine) 

 Black bear 



Number. 



12,216 

 1,899 

 31,983 

 10,385 

 10,656 

 751 



Value. 



S250, 587 



43, 677 



223, 881 



286,587 



9,057 



10, 138 



As a considerable number of furs are used in Alaska and as many 

 are taken out by travelers and by vessels not reporting them, it 

 appears safe to estimate the take of land furs for the year as ex- 

 ceeding a value of $2,000,000, or a 6 per cent return on a capital 

 valuation of about $33,000,000 for this natural resource. 



GENERAL ACTIVITIES. 



The bureau's seagoing power boat Sea Otter has been used con- 

 tinually, patrolling waters and streams of southeastern Alaska, and 

 visiting fur-farming islands and many other points to enforce the 

 fur laws and to enable the chief warden to be of increased practical 

 assistance to the fur farmers. The chief fur warden and other em- 

 ployees of the bureau in Alaska are encouraged to conduct a per- 

 sistent educational campaign for the better conservation of the fur 

 and game resources of the Territory. Most gratifying results have 

 been obtained in a way that holds out great encouragement for the 

 future. 



FUK FABMING IN ALASKA. 



During the summer and early fall of 1922 the chief fur warden 

 and the chief fur-farming expert of the bureau made a trip on the 

 Sea Otter from southeastern Alaska to Unalaska, studying the fur 

 farms and other matters relating to fur production. The results of 

 this are mentioned earlier in this report under the general subject of 

 fur farming. The fur-farming industry in Alaska appears to have 

 a most promising future. 



All but one of the ten islands under the jurisdiction of the bureau 

 for leasing for fur-farming purposes have been leased. It is not 

 considered advisable to grant a*n exclusive lease on the remaining 

 island. 



Fox farming, mainly of blue foxes, is developing rapidly and 

 appears to have a good future in the Territory. Two associations 

 of fur farmers were formed in the fall of 1922, one at Cordova and 

 the other at Petersburg, A list of blue-fox farmers of Alaska with 

 their names, post-office addresses, and the name of the island occupied 

 bv each has been prepared and distributed in mimeographed form 

 by the bureau, showing that there are now 99 blue-fox farmers in 

 southeastern Alaska, 29 in the Prince William Sound region, 8 in 

 the Lower Cook Inlet region, 13 in the Kodiak-Afognak region, 

 and 10 on islands off the Alaska Peninsula, or a total of 159. In 

 addition there are about 20 blue-fox farmers in the Aleutian Islands 

 Eeservation, while 25 permits have been issued to residents of Alaska 

 to capture alive beavers, minks, martens, and muskrats for propa- 



