9 
THE GAME RESOURCES OF ALASKA. 
By Wilfred H. Osgood, 
Assistant Biologist, Biological Survey. 
ALASKA A NATURAL GAME RESORT. 
The Territory of Alaska is of vast extent and possesses a varied 
climate, broad rivers, innumerable lakes, deep forests, and chains of 
lofty mountains—in short, many of the chief attributes of a natural 
game resort. Its barren northern shores, frequented by the lumbering 
walrus and the formidable polar bear, are washed by ice-laden cur¬ 
rents, while its southern extensions support luxuriant forests inhab¬ 
ited by the graceful Sitka deer. Between these extremes are great 
interior forests, the home of the lordly moose, broad open tundras 
and rolling plateaus, traversed by herds of unsuspicious caribou, and 
snow-clad mountain ranges, the stronghold of sharp-eyed sheep and 
dull-witted goats. 
Among Alaska’s game animals are some of the largest and finest 
in the world, as the giant moose and the huge brown bears. The 
game of the entire Territory includes moose, caribou, deer, mountain 
sheep, mountain goat, walrus, and polar, brown, grizzly, black, and 
glacier bears, besides a variety of waterfowl, shore birds, and upland 
game birds. In game resources Alaska compares favorably with the 
western part of the United States in early days, and at the present 
time it is one of the most important game regions in the world. 
value or Alaska’s game. 
Without entering into the general subject of the value of game to 
all countries possessing it, Alaska’s game may be considered chiefly 
with reference to the features making it especially valuable. 
Alaska is of particular importance as a game region because, of 
all American possessions, it is the one in which frontier conditions 
promise to last longest. Notwithstanding its wealth of mineral and 
other resources the Territory is not likely to be thickly populated, 
at least not for decades to come. It is true railroads already are 
beginning to penetrate its wilds and no doubt cities of considerable 
size will develop, but, even so, immense tracts far from populous 
centers will long remain in almost primeval condition. This is 
apparent from the great size of the Territory and its climatic and 
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