MINOR FUR-BEARING ANIMAL WORK. 



GENERAL WORK. 



The major functions of the Bureau in Alaska have been devoted 

 primarily to affairs pertaining to the fur seals of the Pribilof Islands 

 and the general fisheries operations in the coastal regions. To the 

 extent that facilities and funds have permitted, attention has been 

 devoted to the minor fur-bearing animals. In his annual report for 

 the fiscal year ended June 30, 1919, the Commissioner of Fisheries 

 again recommended that the Bureau be relieved of the incongruous 

 duty of administering the minor fur-bearing animals of the Territory. 

 Favorable action by Congress is anticipated in the near future, it 

 being probable that jurisdiction will be transferred to the Bureau of 

 Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture.'* 



The arrano;ement made in 1918 with the governor of Alaska 

 whereby em]>loyees of the Bureau have been named as ex officio game 

 wardens and the Territorial game wardens and special employees for 

 the suppression of the liquor traffic among the Indians have been 

 designated as special wardens in the Bureau's Alaska service, without 

 additional compensation, was continued in effect during the year 1919. 

 Some changes in the force of wardens have occurred. The employees 

 under direction of the governor's office identified with this work in 

 1919 were as follows: 



Game wardens: Patrick Hamilton, Ketchikan; J. C. Lund, 

 Juneau; P. S. Ericksen, McCarthy; J. A. Baughman, Seward; Stephen 

 Foster, Nenana; R. E. Steel, Eagle; and M. O. Colberg, Nome. 



Special employees: J. F. McDonald, Juneau; J. A. Bourke, Valdez; 

 Thomas P. Killeen, Nome; and John A. Moe, Ruby. 



P. S. Ericksen, of McCarthy, was succeeded by E. A. Young at 

 Chitina. 



In January, 1920, the services of Stephen Foster were discontinued. 



The Bureau has continued the employment of Game Warden F. A. 

 Martin at Anchorage as special fur warden at a nominal salary. The 

 cooperative arrangement with the governor's office has been of value 

 in that a number of violations of the fur-bearing animal law and regu- 

 lations, which otherwise would probably have gone unnoticed, have 

 received attention. 



Reports have been received that more than the usual number of 

 blue foxes have been taken along the Bering Sea coast between Cape 

 Avinof and the Yukon delta. The death of so many natives in the 

 Bristol Bay region as a result of the influenza epidemic has greatly 

 reduced the number of persons trapping and will probably mean 

 increased takes by the white trappers, though possibly not so large 

 an output from the district as a whole. 



o The act of Confcress approved May 31, 1920, transferred jurisdiction over the minor fur-bearing animals 

 of Alaska to the IJureau of Biological Survey, Department of Agriculture. 



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