BULLETIN NUMBER SIX 21 



other Alaskan whom I know. From a letter written by 

 him, dated Juneau, March 31, 1918, I quote his views re- 

 garding the game-destroying animals of Alaska. 



EXTRACTS FROM LETTER OF MR. WENRICH : 



"The point that I want to make clear is that we have all 

 of us, heretofore, been working on the game and fish propo- 

 sition from the wrong end. We have been attempting to 

 conserve game by limiting the amount man uses, when the 

 predatory animals destroy many times what man uses, and 

 as yet very little has been done to exterminate these preda- 

 tory animals. 



"The corrections which our Fish and Game Club of 

 Southeastern Alaska made on the Sulzer bill was to include 

 provisions whereby the wolves would be killed off at the 

 same time that more game was taken. I am firmly of the 

 opinion, Professor, that if the wolves were exterminated, 

 our 65,000 population, including Indians, could not use the 

 surplus nor the natural increase above the present amount, 

 provided there was sufficient restriction placed on killing 

 females and yearlings 



"In the course of my travels, I have talked with many 

 trappers and hunters and asked these disinterested parties 

 their views and experiences. The wolves are not to be found 

 in the inhabited parts of Alaska, neither is game to be 

 found in abundance in the more thickly populated regions. 

 When I say, in abundance, you understand I mean compara- 

 tively speaking. 



"It is where sheep roam in bands of hundreds or more, 

 where moose may be encountered many times in a day's 

 travel, where the caribou roam in herds of thousands that 

 the wolves take their heavy toll of the big game. They 

 exist, too, on some of the islands of Southeastern Alaska 

 in considerable numbers. 



"I do not believe a wolf can grow to its 100 and even 250 

 pounds of weight without consuming 1,000 pounds of meat 

 yearly, which is worth not less than ten cents per pound to 

 the inhabitants of Alaska. 



"I will not burden you with examples of their number 

 and the damage they do. I will cite one or two instances. 



