1644 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



operated by mining companies at intervals to produce sawn material 

 for their individual use. 



The use of the timber resources in material quantities began about 

 1900 when the discovery of rich gold placers started an influx of 

 miners, totaling tens of thousands, to interior Alaska. By 1910 the 

 gold rush period was past and a large percentage of the miners had 

 left the country. The permanent population has grown very slowly 

 in the past 22 years and within the sections where the interior forest 

 exists is now about 18,000. Consequently, the yearly consumption 

 of wood has not been increasing materially and may even have de- 

 creased in the past 10 years or since the construction of the Alaska 

 Kailroad, which has made the local coal available to the more populous 

 communities. 



The possibilities for future general development in interior Alaska 

 are based on metal mining, coal mining^ reindeer grazing, fur trap- 

 ping, fur farming, big game hunting, tourists, and agriculture. Esti- 

 mates of available lands satisfactory for agriculture run as high as 

 42 million acres, but farming is likely to be confined to supplying 

 Alaska markets and its growth would thus be dependent on the 

 expansion of the other activities named above. The settlement of 

 this region may proceed quite slowly because of its isolation, but it 

 is only reasonable to expect that eventually interior Alaska will have 

 a population and an industrial development more nearly commen- 

 surate with its available resources. Norway, Sweden, and sections 

 of other countries in the same latitude as Alaska support fairly 

 dense populations. 



Very little timber from the interior forest will be used for products 

 going into the general markets of the United States or foreign coun- 

 tries, but local activities will need increasingly large quantities and 

 these forests are of inestimable value for supplying such requirements. 

 With a light stand per acre and very slow rate of growth the perpetu- 

 ation of the existing forests on all lands not needed for other purposes 

 is essential in order to have the required timber supplies available. 



Another highly important value of the forest lies in the cover 

 afforded and the direct and indirect food supplies provided for game 

 and fur-bearing animals. The timber and woodland areas of Alaska 

 contain important resources in game birds and animals, in fur bearers, 

 and in forage resources for reindeer and caribou. The areas suitable 

 to reindeer have been thoroughly investigated by the officers of the 

 Biological Survey resident in Alaska. The Survey acts in an advisory 

 capacity to the Governor of Alaska, who has the responsibility for 

 the general management of the reindeer resources. Birds and game, 

 including grouse, ptarmigan, waterfowl, moose, deer, caribou, moun- 

 tain sheep, bears, and rabbits, are of extreme importance as a source 

 of food for pioneers and prospectors. The annual output of fur from 

 Alaska, valued at more than $4,000,000 in 1928 and 1929, but mate- 

 tially less in 1930 and 1931, constitutes the chief source of revenue 

 for the scattered population over many parts of the interior. Con- 

 tinued trapping has reduced the number of the fur bearers otter, 

 mink, marten, weasel, fox, lynx, muskrats, and beavers to the point 

 where it has been necessary to adopt vigorous protective measures. 

 The Alaska Game Commission has been organized for the purpose 

 and restrictive regulations adopted. It is generally recognized, how- 

 ever, that forest fires by destroying the shelter and food for these fur 



