REIXDEKH (IKAZIXG IN VKSTIGATIOX.S IX ALASKA 



35 



Koindoor have boon siiccossl'iilly fod <rrain and hay with other 

 cuhivatod crojjs, antl lichons aro found not to l)o essontial to their 

 niaintonance. As a ready source of food, lichons will continue to 

 be the chief sustenance of the herds, however, and are what make 

 reindeer «;razin<i ])ossible in Alaska. Studies will be continued to 

 detoi-niino the oilect of a varied diet on moat (luality. 



(ira/.inii- in Alaska is tondin<r toward ])oi'manont ranches with 

 natural boundaries, each <irazin<r unit havin<r its own summer and 

 winter ranges. I'nder a lixod-allotmont system open lioi-din<f is 

 found more practicable than the close herding introduced by the 

 I.,apps. 



Coastal, interior, and intermediate range belts have been studied 

 with a view to establishing for each imit definite summer and winter 

 grazing areas. As forage is likely to be trampled in wet tundras, 

 and growth reduced on rocky areas, the cai'rying capacity is greater 

 on the di-y-tundra typo of range. 



Timi)oi'od ranges have an advantage over the treeless in that they 

 afford shelter to herds and herders and supply fuel and materials 

 for cabin, corral, and fence construction. On many allotments two 

 or more herders' cabins are needed, and boundary and drift fences 

 are considered practicable. 



As regards range belts and types, the main forage cover on winter 

 ranges consists of lichens — on the coast range with a sedge-browse 

 subtyi)e. and on the interior ranges a lirowso subt^'pe; on summer 

 coast ranges a sedge-browse forage predominates, and in the in- 

 terior a browse-sedge-lichen type. 



Lichens are seldom present in pure stand, their average propor- 

 tion in the total cover on winter ranges being about 50 per cent, the 

 remainder consisting of a varying admixture of browse, sedges, and 

 mosses. The most abundant of the lichens are those of the genus 

 CJadonia, Avith Cetmrm second in importance. 



To determine the reaction of lichens to grazing, quadrat studies 

 have been begim on the range, and the results reached indicate a rapid 

 rate of establishment of new plants after denudation, depending 

 upon moisture, but a slow recovery to normal stand. One denuded 

 area regained 50 per cent of its former stand in four years, and it is 

 indicated that the normal vegetative .stand, including other growth, 

 should be reached in 7 to 10 years after denudation, but 15 to 20 years 

 s.eem required to attain a normal lichen height of 4 or 5 inches, ex- 

 cept in rocky areas, where recovery might take as long as 25 or 30 

 years. Such slow recovery makes evident the necessity of extin- 

 guishing and ju'evonting range fires, of limiting the stocking of an 

 area to its carrying capacity, and of carefully protecting winter 

 ranges. 



Winter grazing requires a greater acreage per head than summer. 

 Yearlong, from 40 to 60 acres for one reindeer is indicated — 10 or 

 15 for summer and 30 to 45 for winter grazing. About Xorton 

 Sound the acreage per animal is 40 to 45, and farther north 50 to 

 60. These figures furnish a basis for determining the future carry- 

 ing capacity of definitely marked areas. The areas available to 

 grazing in Alaska should ultimately support 3.000.000 reindeer, a 

 third of this number on the coast section now occupied. 



