88 PROBLEMS IN WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



ther and authorized the purchase of any land which was or 

 could be made a suitable breeding place for migratory birds. 

 In the interval between the passage of the 1929 act and the 

 proposed act of 1921, there were a number of bills enacted 

 into law setting aside specific areas as refuges, such as the 

 Upper Mississippi Wild Life and Fish Refuge Act of 



Besides these measures to conserve the remaining bird 

 life the Survey began here and there to undertake studies in 

 the breeding and domestication of animals. Due to the 

 urgent requests of the reindeer herders in Alaska, 21 the 

 Survey established an experimental laboratory in connec- 

 tion with the Territorial Agricultural College and School of 

 Mines to study herd management of those animals. 



The decreasing number of fur-bearing animals led to 

 higher prices in the market, which in turn led to more ex- 

 tensive trapping. The total extinction of certain species 

 was in sight with the resulting destruction of the fur trade. 

 Experiments have been going on for some time in Canada 

 and Alaska in the raising of fur-bearing animals in captivity 

 with considerable success. Finally, in 1912 the Survey un- 

 dertook research in the breeding of fur-bearing animals 

 and the management of fur farms. At first the work was 

 exclusively with foxes but in time it broadened out to in- 

 clude muskrat, martins, rabbits, and other types of fur 

 animals. 



Looking back over the development of the Survey's 

 activities four phases of policy are evident. First, there 

 was the emphasis upon economic ornithology for which 



20 Act of June 7, 1924, 43 Stat. L. 650. The work of purchase and 

 control of these areas has also passed to the Commission since 1929. 



21 Reindeer had been originally introduced into Alaska by the Bureau 

 of Education in an effort to help the natives. In more recent years the 

 industry has passed into the hands of the whites. 



