REINDEER IN ALASKA. 33 



grazing has taken place by herding away from the area until after 

 seed maturity of the important forage plants; this can be helped 

 eventually by salting (see p. 37). For the range unit as a whole, de- 

 ferred and rotation grazing can be accomplished to an important 

 extent simply by alternating the plan of grazing over the allotment 

 from year to year. 



EXISTING REGULATIONS AND RANGE CONTROL. 



Existing regulations governing the grazing of reindeer in Alaska 

 apply essentially to the early stages of the native industry ; ^^ as they 

 were adopted prior to the building up of large herds under white 

 ownership, they do not now fill the requirements. A new plan of 

 regulation and control has become necessary to cover the herds under 

 both native and white ownership and to correlate the two interests 

 in such manner as to insure the protection of both classes. In fact 

 such reorganization is a first essential toward building up tlie 

 Alaskan reindeer industry. 



Improved methods of management are vastly important but faulty 

 basic organization may offset all the good range management that 

 may be effected. Such basic problems as determination of ownership, 

 industrial relationship between the native, the Lapp, and the other 

 white men, proper supervision and organization of herds, and rights 

 to and control of range lands, all need early consideration. 



Jurisdiction over the range in Alaska does not at the present time 

 come under any vested authority. The areas now allotted to indi- 

 vidual reindeer herds of the Eskimos were established tentatively by 

 the Bureau of Education. They are maintained by tolerance only and 

 invasions of ranges are common. Legally there is no protection 

 against encroachments upon individual allotments. Without right 

 to control the range upon which to graze, reindeer-herd owners are 

 much handicapped. Control of the range stands as a principal factor 

 for consideration in handling the future reindeer industry in Alaska. 



HERD MANAGEMENT. 



Reindeer handling in Alaska suffers greatly from lack of applica- 

 tion of improved modern methods. The growth in the numbers of 

 reindeer has been very rapid, but correspondingly improved general 

 organization, and better methods of controlling parasites and dis- 

 eases have failed to keep pace with it. Consequently the industry 

 has developed to large proportions under conditions which urgently 

 need improvement to insure continued healthy progress. Generally, 



^' Rules and Regulations Regarding the U. S. Reindeer Service in Alaska : Bureau of 

 Education, Alaska Reindeer Service, U. S. Dept. Int Whole number 466, Dec. 7, 1911. 



105932°— 22 3 



