REINDEER IN ALASKA. 29 



he handle his reindeer under a close-herding practice ; but in Alaska, 

 to secure the best results under a fixed allotment system, the opposite, 

 or open herding, must generally be practiced. 



CARRYING CAPACITT. 



In any successful range management a consideration of grazing 

 or carrying capacity is a matter of primary importance. By this 

 is meant the number of stock which a range will support for a definite 

 period of grazing without injury to the range. To attain the great- 

 est carrying capacity, both overgrazing and unnecessary undergrazing 

 must be avoided. 



Carrymg capacity estimates. — From the surveys thus far made, 

 it appears that the range requirement for each reindeer is about 30 

 acres. This closely approximates the acreage required by cattle on 

 national-forest areas in the Western States, where it runs on an 

 average about 2 to 2| acres per cow per month, ^ or roughly, between 

 20 and 30 acres a year. Some Norwegian figures give 25 to 28 acres 

 a year in reindeer grazing. Specific observations thus far made on 

 carrying capacity on two reindeer allotments in the vicinity of 

 Unalakleet indicate 30 acres a year as a maximum requirement for 

 mature animals exclusive of fawns. By including the fawns, on a 

 basis of two fawns to one mature animal, the requirement becomes 

 26 acres a year. It will be borne in mind, however, that observa- 

 tions at Unalakleet were of necessity very general and involved 

 largely range of the wet tundra type ; more detailed work is planned 

 to cover all important conditions. 



The maximum range-carrying capacity is not realized and the 

 acreage requirement is naturally higher under poor management. 

 Present conditions of poor distribution of reindeer, close herding, and 

 mishandling require large ranges. With an approach to the ideal 

 in management, and a decrease in the present acreage requirement, a 

 higher carrying capacity for each range unit should be developed. 

 In determining carrying capacity, the matter of claSs of production 

 must also be taken into consideration. As reindeer are now grown 

 entirely on the range, without feeding, it is obvious that for the 

 production of fat stock for marketing purposes a larger acreage per 

 animal is required than for ordinary range stock. 



GRAZING UNITS. 



To control the number and distribution of reindeer on a given area 

 is a fundamental requirement for effective range management. This 

 may be attained by regulating the use of the range by a system of 

 permits for definite grazing units, or allotments. 



" Jardine, James T., and Mark Anderson, Range management on the national forests : 

 Bull. No. 790, U. S. Dept. Agr., pp. 28-29, 1919. 



