Pioneering Conservation Pioneering Conservation AlAsKA in AlAsKA in K e n R o s s K e n R o s s A companion volume to Environmental Conflict in Alaska, Ken Ross’s Pioneering Conservation in Alaska chronicles the key land and wildlife issues and the growth of environmental conservation in Alaska during its Russian and territorial eras. The Alaskan frontier tempted fur traders, whalers, salmon fishers, gold miners, hunters, and oilmen to take what they could without regard for long-term consequences. Wildlife species, ecosystems, and native cultures suffered, sometimes irreparably. Threats to wildlife and lands drew the attention of environmentalists—including John Muir—who applied their influence to enact wildlife protection laws and set aside lands for conservation. Alaska served as a testing ground for emergent national resource policy in the United states, as environmental values of species and ecosystem sustainability replaced the unrestrained exploitation of Alaska’s early frontier days. efforts of conservation leaders and the territory’s isolation, small human population, and late development prevented widespread destruction and gave Americans a unique opportunity to protect some of the world’s most pristine wilderness. enhanced by more than 100 photographs, Pioneering Conservation in Alaska illustrates the historical precedents for current natural resource disputes in Alaska and will fascinate readers interested in wildlife and conservation. Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott i ALASKA Pioneering Conservation in F ur Seal ’ S Friend : H enry W. elliott ii Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott iii K E N R O S S U N i v E R S i t y P R E S S o f C O L O R A d O ALASKA Pioneering Conservation in © 2006 by the University Press of Colorado Published by the University Press of Colorado 5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C Boulder, Colorado 80303 All rights reserved Printed in Canada The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of the Association of American University Presses. The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State College, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, and Western State Col lege of Colorado. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American Na tional Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48 1992 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Ross, Ken, 1937– Pioneering conservation in Alaska / Ken Ross. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 13: 978 0 87081 852 3 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 10: 0 87081 852 X (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Nature conservation—Alaska—History. I. Title. QH76.5.A4R67 2006 333.95’1609798—dc22 2006030330 Design by Daniel Pratt An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books open access for the public good. The open access ISBN for this book is 978 1 60732 714-1 . More information about the initiative and links to the open access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott v to the North Pacific Right Whale F ur Seal ’ S Friend : H enry W. elliott vi Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott vii Contents Photographs / ix Maps / xiii Tables / xiii Prologue / xv Acknowledgments / xix Chronology / xxi Part I: Early Naturalists and Wildlife Exploitation / 1 1. Sea Otters and Scientists / 4 2. Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott / 27 3. Wake of the Whalers / 58 4. John Muir and the Land / 91 5. the Boone and Crockett Club: George Bird Grinnell, Madison Grant, William t. Hornaday, Charles H. townsend, Charles Sheldon / 116 6. Charles Sheldon and Mt. McKinley National Park / 135 7. Robert F. Griggs and Katmai National Monument / 154 8. John Muir, William S. Cooper, and Glacier Bay National Monument / 176 9. Alaska Natives and Conservation / 192 F ur Seal ’ S Friend : H enry W. elliott viii Part II: Wildlife and Wildlife Managers / 209 10. Bureau of Biological Survey Chiefs: C. Hart Merriam, Edward W. Nelson, ira N. Gabrielson / 212 11. Alaskan Wildlife Managers: Frank dufresne, Clarence Rhode, Jim Brooks, Jim King / 237 12. Grizzly Bears in Politics / 259 13. Frontier Justice: Predator Control / 282 14. Game and Fur Mammals / 316 15. Journey of the Salmon / 350 16. Gold and Oil on the Kenai / 378 17. Bob Marshall, Olaus and Margaret Murie, and the Arctic Refuge / 400 18. Evolution of Conservation values / 427 Notes / 441 Works Employed / 480 Index / 514 ContentS Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott ix Photographs 1.1 Sea otters, Amchitka island, 1949. / 9 1.2 Aleut sea otter hunters, Unalaska, 1891 or 1892. / 10 1.3 Sea otter skins drying, Aleutian islands, ca. 1890s. / 20 1.4 Robert d. “Sea Otter” Jones, Aleutian islands National Wildlife Refuge, mid-1950s. / 24 2.1 Fur seal herd, Zapadni rookery, St. Paul island. / 29 2.2 Henry W. Elliott, San Francisco, 1872, prior to leaving for the Pribilofs. / 37 2.3 William H. dall, Western Union telegraph Expedition, San Francisco, July 1865. / 38 2.4 indian hunter and sealing gear on schooner Favorite , 1894. / 43 2.5 david Starr Jordan. / 47 2.6 Killing fur seals. / 48 2.7 Aleut workers at fur seal processing plant, St. Paul island, ca. 1980. / 54 Photographs, Maps, and Tables F ur Seal ’ S Friend : H enry W. elliott 3.1 Captain William Mogg and bowhead whale baleen, ca. 1916. / 64 3.2 Eskimo whaling station, Cape Prince of Wales, 1891 or 1892. / 66 3.3 Harpoon gunner striking finback whale near Akutan. / 72 3.4 Right whale at Port Hobron whaling station, 1926. / 73 3.5 Remains of villagers starved at St. Lawrence Island, early 1880s. / 78 3.6 Polar bear struck by bullet, off Point Barrow, 1920. / 81 3.7 Walrus sport hunter and trophy, Arctic Ocean, 1913. / 82 3.8 Eskimo carver, Nome, ca. 1887. / 84 3.9 Walrus herd at Walrus Islands haulout, Bristol Bay, ca. 1957. / 85 3.10 Sea lion breeding male, Northeast Point, St. Paul Island. / 87 4.1 Placer miners on American Creek. / 99 4.2 Hydraulic mining on Dan Creek in the Wrangells. / 102 4.3 Fairbanks Exploration Co. dredge on Cripple Creek, twelve miles from Fairbanks. / 103 4.4 Wood yard at Tanana River Railway, ca. 1905–1910. / 107 4.5 Matanuska Colony farm, Palmer, 1937. / 110 4.6 John Muir and John Burroughs at St. Matthew Island, 1899. / 114 5.1 George Bird Grinnell at Yale, ca. 1890s. / 122 5.2 Madison Grant at Yale, 1912. / 124 5.3 William T. Hornaday and buffalo calf, Washington, DC, 1890. / 129 5.4 Charles Haskins Townsend, 1918. / 131 6.1 Members of expedition making first ascent of McKinley’s South Peak, 1913. / 139 6.2 Charles Sheldon, in winter camp north of Mt. McKinley, 1907. / 141 6.3 Belmore Browne in climbing gear. / 142 6.4 Dall rams in McKinley Park, June 1966. / 144 6.5 Former market hunter’s cabin used by park rangers, 1926. / 146 6.6 Tourist party crossing moraine of Muldrow Glacier, 1927. / 149 6.7 Adolph Murie at McKinley Park, November 1939. / 151 6.8 Charlie Ott, Fairbanks, 1984. / 152 7.1 Village of Katmai after eruption, 1913. / 156 7.2 W.A. Hesse filming Katmai volcano, 1913. / 159 7.3 Katmai volcano ash at Kodiak, 1912. / 160 7.4 Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes; Mt. Mageik (left) and Mt. Katmai in background. / 162 7.5 Laura Griggs and husband, Robert, at Baked Mountain, Katmai National Monument, 1919. / 164 7.6 Father Bernard Hubbard and dog at Katmai Crater, 1929. / 167 7.7 Looking north across head of Geographic Harbor, 1940. / 168 7.8 Abandoned cannery, Kukak Bay, Katmai National Monument, 1951. / 170 P HotograPHS , M aPS , and t ableS Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott xi 7.9 victor Cahalane at Novarupta, August 1954. / 173 7.10 Adlai Stevenson and party at Brooks Falls, August 1954. / 174 8.1 John Muir. / 178 8.2 S.S. City of Topeka at Muir Glacier, 1890. / 179 8.3 William S. Cooper, Blackstone Bay, 1935. / 182 8.4 Park ranger and harbor seal carcass, Glacier Bay National Monument, 1964 or 1965. / 189 9.1 Commercial walrus hunters, Nome, early 20th Century. / 193 9.2 inupiat Eskimo boy netting auklets, Little diomede island, 1930s. / 194 9.3 Eskimo hunter and largha seal, Bering Sea, early 1900s. / 195 9.4 Caribou left in woods by inupiat hunters, Shungnak, 1949. / 206 10.1 English sport hunter Charles R.E. Radclyffe and guides, Kenai Peninsula, 1903. / 216 10.2 U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey officials at Lone Pine, California, June 13, 1891, after death valley expedition. / 223 10.3 Edward W. Nelson, yukon-Kuskokwim delta, 1877–1881. / 226 10.4 Edward W. Nelson in later years. / 228 10.5 dr. ira N. Gabrielson, July 1939. / 235 11.1 Alaska Game Commission officers, Fairbanks, 1939. / 239 11.2 Cache of illegally trapped skins at Mulchatna River, June 1936. / 240 11.3 Sam White, Noel Wien, and White’s tP Swallow, valdez, 1931. / 243 11.4 Frank dufresne and friends, upper Newhalen River, June 1940. / 247 11.5 Clarence Rhode at controls of Grumman Goose, Nome, 1949. / 251 11.6 Jim Brooks conducting polar bear research, Chukchi Sea, 1971. / 254 11.7 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Jim King and Nunamiut Eskimos, Anaktuvuk Pass, mid-1950s. / 257 12.1 Brown bear at Karluk Lake, Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, 1958. / 261 12.2 Cow killed by brown bear, Pagashak, Kodiak island, August 1952. / 273 12.3 Hunter and brown bear trophy, Kodiak island, 1957. / 277 13.1 Eskimos displaying reindeer killed by wolves, mid-1950s. / 293 13.2 Seal blubber cubes used in wolf control, ca. 1956. / 295 13.3 Wolves recovered from poison bait stations, ca. 1957. / 296 13.4 Silver salmon damaged by harbor seals, Stikine River, 1946. / 302 13.5 Government seal hunter and harbor seals, mid-1950s. / 303 13.6 Seal faces gathered for bounty, Chukchi Sea, May 1967. / 305 13.7 Blue fox and seabirds it killed, Gareloi island, Aleutians. / 307 13.8 Red foxes and predated lamb, Unalaska or Umnak island, ca. 1958. / 309 Photographs, Maps, and Tables F ur Seal ’ S Friend : H enry W. elliott xii 13.9 Bald eagle shot for bounty, held by Jim dolan, valdez, ca. 1940. / 312 14.1 Rev. Sheldon Jackson, ca. 1880. / 323 14.2 Reindeer loaded aboard revenue cutter Bear , Siberia, 1891. / 324 14.3 Eskimo mail carrier, ca. 1905–1910. / 325 14.4 Muskoxen, College, early 1930s. / 333 14.5 Mountain goat released at Hidden Basin, Kodiak island, 1952. / 336 14.6 Unloading first buffalo, College, ca. 1928. / 337 14.7 trappers and their catch of furs. / 341 14.8 Wolverine in leg-hold trap, Anchorage vicinity, 1949. / 346 15.1 Fish trap, thlinket Packing Company, Funter Bay, 1907. / 352 15.2 Brailing a salmon trap. / 353 15.3 Naket Packing Company’s Waterfall Cannery near Craig, Prince of Wales island. / 354 15.4 Alaska Packers Association ship Santa Clara / 355 15.5 dam on salmon stream, Helm Bay, ca. 1898. / 356 15.6 Athabaskan fish wheel, tanana, 1918. / 360 15.7 Stream watcher’s cabin, Red River Lake, Kodiak island, 1950. / 366 16.1 Construction train of Alaska Central Railroad, north of Seward, June 1905. / 384 16.2 English hunter Col. Claude Cane and trophies, Kenai Peninsula, 1902. / 387 16.3 Moose at Kenai River, 1920s. / 389 16.4 Henry Lucas, Frank dufresne, and Lawrence J. Palmer, Kenai Peninsula, 1938. / 390 16.5 Moose in browse cut, Kenai National Moose Range, 1955. / 394 16.6 Arco discovery well, Swanson River field, Kenai National Moose Range, late 1950s. / 397 16.7 Kenai National Moose Range supervisor david L. Spencer and trumpeter swan nest, May 1957. / 398 17.1 Nutirwik and Bob Marshall, upper north fork of the Koyukuk, 1939. / 405 17.2 Captain Roald Amundsen and crew of Gjoa , Nome, September 1, 1906. / 415 17.3 Bull caribou, Arctic National Wildlife Range, October 1970. / 416 17.4 Wolf at Old Woman Creek, Arctic National Wildlife Range, 1966. / 417 17.5 Mardy and Olaus Murie, Sheenjek River valley, 1956. / 419 17.6 Ginny Hill Wood and Celia Hunter, Fairbanks, ca. 1985. / 423 P HotograPHS , M aPS , and t ableS Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott xiii Maps 1. Alaska. / xxvi–xxvii 2. Pribilof islands. / 30 3. Mt. McKinley/denali National Park and Preserve, 1932 and 1980. / 145 4. Katmai National Monument/Park and Preserve, 1931 and 1980. / 166 5. Glacier Bay National Monument/Park and Preserve, 1939 and 1980. / 184 6. Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, 1958 and 1980. / 275 7. Kenai National Moose Range/Wildlife Refuge, 1941 and 1980. / 379 8. Arctic National Wildlife Range/Refuge, 1960 and 1988. / 424 Tables 1.1 Russian Fur Cargoes From North America, 1743–1823 / 18 2.1 Reported Harvest of Pribilof Fur Seals, 1786–1950 / 40 3.1 American Whalers and Harvests in the Pacific North of 50 degrees, 1835–1913 / 61–62 3.2 Shore-Based Commercial Whale Catches in Subarctic Alaska, 1910– 1939 / 70 3.3 Recorded Pacific Walrus Harvests by the Whaling industry, 1849– 1914 / 76 4.1 Forest Acreage Burned in Alaska, 1940–1970 / 105 4.2 Agricultural Activity in Alaska, 1940–1969 / 109 10.1 Human Population of Alaska, 1740–2000 / 213 10.2 Game Killed by Radclyffe Party, Kenai Peninsula, 1903 / 215 10.3 Game and trophies Shipped From Alaska, 1910–1916 / 219 10.4 Game Purchased by Six Fairbanks Stores, Fall 1921 / 232 11.1 Alaska Game Commission Enforcement Actions, 1936–1937 and 1958–1959 / 241 11.2 Alaska Game Commission License Sales, 1926–1959 / 245 11.3 travel by Alaska Game Commission Agents, 1937–1959 / 246 12.1 Estimated Harvests of Brown or Grizzly Bears in Alaska, 1945– 1966 / 278 13.1 Furbearers Purposely and Accidentally Killed in Predator Control, 1951–1952 / 297 13.2 Alaska Bounty Expenditures, 1927–1958 / 299 13.3 Species Bountied and taken in Predator Control Programs, 1927– 1958 / 299 14.1 Estimated Harvests of Big Game Species in Alaska, 1945–1963 / 317 14.2 Ownership, Size, and Locations of Reindeer Herds, 1949 / 328 Photographs, Maps, and Tables F ur Seal ’ S Friend : H enry W. elliott xiv 14.3 Reindeer in Alaska, 1892–1977 / 329 14.4 Successful transplants of Wild terrestrial Mammals in Alaska, 1916– 1970 / 335 14.5 Selected Land Mammal Furs Shipped From Russian America and Alaska, 1745–1890 / 339 14.6 Reported Fur Exports From Alaska, 1912–1964 / 345 14.7 values of Wildlife and Other Natural Resources in Alaska, 1952 / 348 15.1 Statistical Profile of Alaska Salmon Canning industry, 1878– 1897 / 361 15.2 Commercial Salmon Catches in Alaska, 1878–1982 / 370 18.1 Environmental values Expressed by Alaskan issues and Leaders, 1741– 1960 / 436 P HotograPHS , M aPS , and t ableS Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott xv F or 250 yearS a laSKa lured Fortune SeeKerS and eSCaPeeS FroM tHe boredoM and social confi nes of modernizing society. A theater of quest to try the hardiest of souls, it promised fabulous riches for the taking. isolated, vast, open, en- dowed, and dramatically beautiful, it called out to the most primitive urges— greed, excitement, lust for power, freedom. Adventure awaited all who came; riches only a few. No matter, though; the illusions outweighed the reality. And pioneers pursued them in a state of near-religious fervor. A few early visitors chose to settle in Alaska, especially after the gold rushes of the late 19th Century and the fi rst two decades of the 20th Century. they wanted to be where they could control their own lives and their achievements could be clearly seen; where folks knew a person as an individual, tolerated idiosyncracies, clearly defi ned manhood and womanhood, and valued honor; where all could tell right from wrong; where people trusted and helped one another; where one could recognize sources of danger and everyone took hard- ship for granted; where boredom would be rare, adventure common, rules and crowds few; where people and things were what they appeared to be—a realm Prologue F ur Seal ’ S Friend : H enry W. elliott xvi of wholesome earth, pure water, and bracing air. And a place where one could wrest a living from the land. in the Alaskan experience of Europeans and Euro-Americans, three com- peting land ethics emerged. Combining desire for freedom and lust for wealth and power, one urged exploitation and conquest in the name of individual benefit and economic progress. Sweeping relentlessly through the territory, it devastated wildlife populations and Native cultures alike. Only physical barriers could contain it throughout most of its temporal and spatial reign. it threat- ened, and still threatens, to subdue one of the last great wild places on earth. A competing idea, utilitarian conservation, sought to bring the free- booting ethic to bay. it envisioned moderate, measured use of natural resources for the long-term well-being of humans and the nation, in contrast to the short-term, self-centered quest for profit that had wreaked so much destruc- tion on the West. if properly regulated by government, forests, minerals, and wild species populations and their numerous benefits could be harvested indef- initely. they would provide a foundation for a gradually modernizing, stable society. A third contending view drew strength from the experiences of pre-statehood Alaska. in its most advanced form it nurtured a vision of Alaska as a realm of unspoiled Nature. in this conception, like that of its rivals, Nature symbolized freedom. But Nature meant more than freedom; it represented beauty, truth. One felt freedom in closeness to Nature and in the knowledge that Nature existed free. Power and personal gain inhered not in conquest and material acquisition but in observation and contemplation. Humankind would be in- tegral to, not owner of or mere actor upon, the pageant of wild life. Conquest seemed unnecessary, self-destructive, immoral. Far less prevalent than the ex- ploitation and utilitarian notions, the preservation ideal nevertheless consti- tuted a compelling force for those who experienced it. For more than a century it strove tenaciously and won gathering success in creating a public constitu- ency. the story of Alaska is in large part an ongoing struggle among the ethics of conquest, utilitarian conservation, and preservation. it continues unabated into the 21st Century. Alaska enticed adventurers and exploiters from around the world as long ago as the mid-1700s. Conflicts over its resources informed signal events—the abandonment of Russian empire in North America, the sale of Alaska to the United States, the elections of at least three U.S. presidents, and appointments and removals of cabinet members. in the territorial era, as now, commercial- ization of natural resources ranked first among the motives. Euro-American visitors aggressively exploited resources in hopes of making fortunes that would allow them to return to the States and live in luxury. Most of the relatively few who stayed in Alaska endeavored to replicate the pattern of Western settlement P rologue Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott xvii by converting the wealth of natural resources into increasingly comfortable modern communities. yet pre-statehood Alaska contributed mightily to the growth of Ameri- can environmentalism. it nurtured early leaders of the national environmen- tal movement who shared, and acted upon, the public fascination concerning Alaska. through their endeavors to conserve habitat and wildlife these leaders fostered values that evolved into principles of modern environmentalism. Eth- ics of natural resource use in Alaska evolved from untrammeled exploitation to utilitarian conservation and elements of species and ecosystem preservation. Wildlife management passed from private entrepreneurs into the hands of gov- ernment professionals employing emerging biological sciences. Some of the conservation pioneers, by their knowledge and standing, direct- ly molded opinion in Alaska. Most augmented environmentalism in the States, in turn ultimately forcing a shift in Alaskan behavior. Alaska’s pre-statehood environmental record is a story of physical endeavor and political conflict in a vast and wild land. it is also a vital chapter in the evolution of American envi- ronmental values. this book, a companion volume to Environmental Conflict in Alaska (University Press of Colorado, 2000), traces the evolution of environ- mental values through the outstanding land and wildlife issues of pre-statehood Alaska and the leaders who shaped their outcomes. While values have advanced and conditions have changed, many of the issues remain in force to this day. Prologue F ur Seal ’ S Friend : H enry W. elliott xviii Fur Seal’s Friend: Henry W. Elliott xix t HanKS to tHe FolloWing For inForMation and aSSiStanCe : e dgar P. b ailey , Bruce W. Black, John Branson, Jim Brooks, Cathy Curby, Colin day, Robert deArmond, Jim Estes, Joe Geldhof, Sally Gilbert, Stephen W. Haycox, John i. Hodges Sr., Jean t. Holland, Wayne Howell, Mina Jacobs, James G. King, Betty Knight, Philip S. Koehl, Gladi Kulp, donald B. Lawrence, Calvin R. Lensink, Malcolm Lockwood, donald E. McKnight, Bruce Merrell, ted Merrell, donald C. Mitchell, Sid Morgan, Margaret Murie, J. Richard Myren, Richard K. Nelson, Robert E. Price, Jack Roderick, Pat Roppel, Kay Shelton, david L. Spencer, Nancy tileston, Peg tileston, Will troyer, Robert B. Weeden, Kenton Wohl, Jennifer Wolk, Steve Zimmerman. thanks also to darrin Pratt and Laura Furney of the University Press of Colorado and Cheryl Carnahan for editing. Special thanks to Jason Geck for maps and to Cynthia A. Bily and Mary C. Mangusso for full-text reviews. Able assistance from many other librarians in Alaska and the Lower 48 is ap- preciated. thanks to Adrian College for providing a sabbatical leave in support of this project. Acknowledgments