Trapping fur ar^imals f6r tkeir pelts and fur :farminii are next in 

 import.ance. The value of sll fur' Qhiidsls is estimated at approxims.tely 

 $35,000,000. The ann^aal harvest is valued at about $2,000,000. During 

 the calendar vear 1939, 554,725 fura shipped from Alaska were valued at 

 $1,910,111.21. 3/ Pro'bably not less tiian 15,000 natives and whites, women 

 and children included, share in the proceeds received from sales of pelts, 

 in addition to which they use large quantities of inferior grades of local 

 furs for garments and bedding. Blue and silver fox and mink raising is an 

 established occupation in the Territory. During the fisceJ year 1939, 273 

 fur-farming licenses were issued by the Alaslca G-ame Comniission. 



Hunting for game with gun and camera, and fishing for sport ' are of in- 

 calculable value to the Territory. These activities attract many people 

 from the States ar^d other i^arts of the world. An approximate monetary 

 value placed by the Alaska G-ar.:e Commission on the total nimber of game 

 animals in the Territory is >'Sol,575,C00. This evaitiation is based on re- 

 tijjrns in license fees, emplo^nnent 01 guides, pa^tient for transportation, 

 hotel accoimnodations, and the like, aiid the estimated value of meat and 

 hides to the local hunter for food and clothing. In addition to the trophy, 

 meat, and hide va.lue of game animals and fish there is also their im- 

 portance from a iecrea.tional and scientific vie'Tpoint. As an aid to explora- 

 tion and settlement the game resoi^rces have been a major factor and will 

 continue to be so if adec'iately maintained, 



Helated Land Hses 



In production value of Alaskan resources, fisheries come first, min- 

 ing second, a-id f-ijr third. Other related land uses are grasing, crop farm- 

 ing, and lumbering. Pishing, trapping, and prospecting often go hand in 

 hand v/ith other pursuits, these being seasonal. The chief grazing is by 

 reindeer on the Sering Sea and Arctic coasts, of princi.pal inport.ance to 

 the Eskim.os. Cattle and sheep are raised to a very limited extent on the 

 Ko-diak IslaJid group a,nd the Aleutian Islands. Crop farming chiefly ap- 

 plies to the Ivfe.ta,nuska Valley and the Tanana "Salley in the interior. 

 Lumbering for local consumption centers at Ketchikan in southeastern Al- 

 aska and at Fairbanks in the interior. Agricultura,l production and lum- 

 bering as yet are largelv -undeveloped. 



The wildlife Problem 



The wildlife reso"urces in Alaska present a problem in proper use and 

 maintenance not only as to present use and potentia.l fut"'ire importance to 

 local settlement but alco as to their interest to the United States. One 

 objective is to avoid the mistaijes made in settling the ^Tostern States, 



3/ Mimeographed statement issued lij U. S. Dejjartment of the Interior, 

 Bureau of Biological Survey, Alaska i>ame Commission, Juneau, Alaska, "Purs 

 Shipped from Alaska D^oring the Calendar Year 1939." 



