REINDEER GRAZING INVESTIGATIONS IN ALASKA 



29 



stances where an occasional plant base or small plant had been, 

 left standinii", <;ro\vth was continuinji-. The new repi'oilurtion meas- 

 ured a sixleenth to an ei<>lith of an inch hi<ih, and the few old 

 plants left standing measured 1 or fi/^ inches hi<,di. 



RANGE RECOVERY 



The beginnin<2: of lichen reproduction takes place one or two years 

 following denudation. Keproduction comes in best where the 

 ground has been cleared of the matted growth, giving the young 

 plants a chance to develop. Where the top of the plant is cropped, 

 a growth of oft'shoots occurs which will probably result in a bushy, 

 deformed top. 



Cutting or cropping the lichen cover results in considerable dam- 

 age, by killing a large proportion of the growth. The number of 

 plants killed seems to be in direct proportion to the degree of crop- 

 ping or grazing. E\ en light cropping or tramping may result in 

 considerable damage. Much trampling in summer when the plants 

 are ilry and brittle may entirely kill out the cover. This means 

 that the winter ranges must have complete protection from grazing 

 during late spring, the summer, and early fall, or particidarly 

 when the surface is thawed and the lichens are dry and brittle. 

 During winter, on the other hand, the lichens have regained their 

 moist consistency and the ground is frozen with the base of the 

 plant, thus offering considerable protection against ready destruction. 



The quadrat observations apply to coast tundras, where it would 

 seem that recovery of the lichen range following full cropping may 

 take possibly 15 or 20 years. On higher ground, where a dry, rocky 

 soil offers less favorable conditions for good growth, vmdoubtedly 

 recovery will take much longer, perhaps as much as 25 or even 80 

 years. The rate of recovery of a lichen range depends very much 

 on the site conditions. 



RANGE FIRES 



One of the greatest sources of injury to range and losses of forage 

 in Alaska is in fires, which in most cases are deliberately set or are 

 due to carelessness. Tundra fires along the coast are common, and 

 burned-over range areas may be frequently found. Fires are often 

 set by prospectors to clear off the vegetation and thus expose the 

 underlying ground and rock or by Eskimos in an efl'ort to be rid of 

 mosquitoes. They are also caused by carelessly leaving a camp fire 

 burning or tossing away a lighted match or cigarette. 



Possibly on account of the immensity of the country and the sparse 

 population the injury by fire does not appear very impressive nor a 

 need of its suppression important. It has not, perhaps, been called 

 sufficiently to people's attention in the past, although a Territorial 

 law is in effect providing penalty for the deliberate setting of range 

 fires. What is needed for Alaska is a general fire-prevention pro- 

 gram, and in that connection a wide, educational propaganda against 

 forest and range fires, particularly in the northern and western 

 sections of the Territory, reaching the Eskimos through the schools. 



Damage to range by fire involves not only loss of forage and 

 trees but also of game and fur animals, since the small ground ani- 

 mals as well as the cover of vegetation are destroyed by the fire. 



