MINOR FUR-BEARING ANIMALS. 109 
any fur-bearing animal in Alaska by means of the trap or device 
known as the ‘“‘klips’’ or by means of any steel bear trap or any other 
trap with jaws having a spread exceeding eight inches was prohib- 
ited. No attempt was made to prohibit the shipping of live fur- 
bearing animals from Alaska. The policy of requiring persons who 
desired to engage in the business of breeding and rearing fur-bearing 
animals to secure licenses authorizing them to do so was discon- 
tinued, but permission to kill fur-bearing animals born and reared 
upon fur farms was made contingent upon compliance with certain 
requirements. While the taking in the close seasons of wild animals 
for use as breeding stock on fur farms was not restricted, the killing 
at any future time of animals so taken was forbidden. 
Some hesitation was felt in the matter of removing all restric- 
tions upon the shipping of live animals from the Territory. This 
was due in large measure to the demand in previous years for permits 
authorizing the shipments of foxes. But since the law did not 
expressly authorize the department to prohibit the shipment of live 
animals and since it was felt that the desire for Alaskan foxes for use 
on fox farms in eastern North America and elsewhere had passed its 
maximum, the policy of requiring permits for shipments was discon- 
tinued. In order to determine the amount of such shipments the 
collector of customs at Juneau was asked to keep a record of all ship- 
ments of the character in question. It developed that in the calendar 
year 1915 live fur-bearing animals were shipped from the Territory 
of Alaska as follows: 58 foxes, 34 minks, and 1 black bear. From 
another source it has been learned that foxes have been imported 
into Alaska, three pairs of silver gray foxes having been brought, pre- 
sumably in 1915, from Edmonton, Alberta, for a ranch at Tolovana. 
It would seem that the absence of restrictions upon the exporting of 
live fur-bearing animals from Alaska had during the year no material 
adverse effects upon the natural supply of the wild stock. 
The Bureau is not, however, assured that the demand for Alaskan 
foxes for outside use will not in the future reach such proportions as 
to affect unfavorably the fur industry of Alaska, and there should 
be legislation which will provide adequate authority to forestall 
such a contingency. It isnot the number of live foxes shipped from 
Alaska which measures the injury to the resources of the Territory, 
for under proper conditions the exporting of live foxes is no more 
harmful than the killing of an equal number for their pelts. The real 
trouble is that the taking alive of each wild fox, when proper regula- 
tion of methods employed does not exist, means on the average the 
destruction of several other foxes. 
In the fall of 1915 it became apparent that the decrease in the num- 
ber of martens demanded a rescinding of the annual open season 
extending from November 16 to March 14. It was decided to place 
