REIISTDEER IX ALASKA. 31 



merly. fishermen and hunters. Confinement of herds to small are-as 

 is not due to lack of range or to crowded allotments ; on the contrary 

 there is an abundance of available range. There has been little or 

 no attention given to the matter of carrying capacity, or to the fact 

 that Tvith an increase in numbers of stock it becomes necessary to 

 use more range. 



One result of close herding is a cutting up of the range by the sharp 

 hoofs of the reindeer. Tvhich in some cases causes serious injury to the 

 forage cover. Holding the herd locally under close herding thus 

 means localized mechanical injury to the range in addition to over- 

 grazing. The remedy, of course, is open herding, which implies the 

 spreading of the herd over more territory and a movement from 

 point to point, thus materially lessening the possibilities of damage, 

 and maintaining the re<;uperative power of the range as a vrhole. 

 The matter of open herding is treated under the subje<;t of Distribu- 

 tion and Control (p. 36). 



To determine whether overgrazing is taking place, both the condi- 

 tion of the range and the condition of the stock must be watched. 

 The extreme stage of overgrazing is marked by denudation, in the 

 form of erosion and barrenness, replacing a former vegetative cover : 

 but this form does not as yet occur in Alaska, except for small ex- 

 amples on old corral grounds. 



Overgrazing does not necessarily imply complete destruction of 

 the vegetative cover. On most ranges there is at least a small growth 

 of plants of which the reindeer will eat very little except in case of 

 necessity, and a range should not be grazed until the stock are re- 

 duced to feeding on forage of low palatability. Close grazing of this 

 class of vegetation is an indication that the range is overgrazed, and 

 it is soon reflected in the condition of stock, which is apt to be un- 

 satisfactory, as shown by poorly nourished animals and particularly 

 by a heavy infestation of parasites. Parasitism and overgrazing 

 commonly go together, the degree of infestation often being in direct 

 ratio to the extent of overgrazing. 



The considerable area of tundra on the summer range present an 

 important factor bearing on range utilization, particularly in the 

 case of the wet tundra type along the coast. Owing to the soft wet 

 ground, this class of range is much more susceptible to injury, 

 chiefly through trampling and contamination, than the drier sites, 

 as is plainly indicated by cut-up groimd and trampled forage. In 

 extreme examples there is a close network of stock trails between the 

 hiunmocks, leaving the latter standing tip in sharp relief against a 

 background where the former vegetation has been killed or eaten. 

 Under this condition an absence of some of the more palatable forage 

 plants and a greater cropping of the less palatable may be noted on 

 the hummocks themselTes, 



