— ,i., maz:
Spring Is Official—Steaming through the Lake Washington ship canal with the assist of the tug Carol
I *OS8’ the SteamshiP Nenana* first Alaska Steamship Company vessel to leave the winter reserve fleet
I th,S year\,s see" coming out of hibernation in the lake to commence the seasonal Alaska salmon can
nery service—bringing the line’s active fleet up to eight vessels. Sailing April 18 from Seattle, the
Nenana calls at cannery ports from Yakutat to False Pass.
Present Moose Herd
Reported as Maximum
For Browse Conditions
The present moose herd, esti
mated at 4,500 animals, is consid
ered to be maximum in size for
the carrying capacity (fooa avail
aide) of the winter range—the
critical factor in moose manage
ment, says John B. Hakala, Re
fuge manager of the Kenai Na
tional Moose Range.
Inrhighlighting activities of the
Moosfe Range during 1962, which
he reports were as usual varied
and interesting, Hakala says the
estimate of the wintering herd
was based on an aerial winter
survey, summer calf survey and
fall composition count.
“As many local residents re
call, we had an abundance of snow
and sub-zero days in January and
, February of 1962,” the Refuge
manager said. “Moose had a
trough time with Several hundred
\ dying of starvation along the
I coast between Kenai and Clam
|Gulch. Animals that survived in
I this area were in poor shape.
! Aerial moose calf- surveys con
f ducted during May to June con
| firmed this by producing the low
| est calf production records in
many years.”
“Mother Nature came to the
j rescue with a warm summer that
produced a bumper crop of hard
; wood browse,” Hakala added.
“Moose entered the fall and win
ter period in a healthy state with
plenty of food available. They also
appeal- to be more wary than in
past years, as many hunters can
testify. After the hunt closed,
moose moved en masse from their
hiding place in hills and spruce
forests into fall and winter con
centration areas.”
To Grow More Browse
Moose browse is continually be
ing lost as overbrowsed plants
die and underbrowsed hardwoods
(willow, birch, aspen and cotton
wood) grow out of reach. Hard
wood brush is rapidly being killed
back as large areas are growing
back to spruce in the 1947 Burn
area.
To offset this loss, Refuge per
sonnel are operating four “Cats”
on land clearing and range im
provement work to provide future
moose browse. Twenty-seven hun
dred acres have been treated to
date. Also, wide fire lines are
being constructed around large
areas which will be control-burned
when weather conditions are sa
tisfactory.
Producing or controlling moose
browse by chemicals has been ex
perimental during the past few
years, the Refuge manager said.
One chemical—“Dybar,” (a pel
letized Urea herbicide)—appears
to give good results on moist
spruce areas, but costs are great.
The main advantages of “Dybar”
are that it is nontoxic to other
forms of wildlife (including fish)
and acts as a fertilizer as its con
centration decreases with the
summer rains. Testing of other
chemicals is planned for this com
ing year.
Production of future forage is
active under the current soil and
moisture project. Eroded and de
nuded areas are being experi
mented with to determine soil
characteristics and chemical pro
perties.
New Test Plots Planted
Various types of seeds, meth
ods of seeding, and application
rates of assorted fertilizers are
being tested. In addition to grains
and grasses in erosion work,
planting native birch seed and
willow shoots has been tried. The
program will be expanded this
growing season.
Wild rice planted at numerous
sites in the fall of 1961 grew well
during the 1962 growing season
and produced good heads. The
seed, however, did not appear to
ripen. Apparently the variety of
rice (an annual), planted will not
reproduce itself on the Range.
Lower average summer tempera
To all our friends, old and new—
A WELCOME FROM
OUR POINT OF VIEW
• OVERLOOKING KENAI ,LAKE •
★ NOW OPEN *
Dining Room Serving Every Day—7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
TO BENEFIT MUSEUM
HOMER — An auction sale at
Homer is being; sponsored at 10
a.m. on Saturday, April 27. by the
Homer Society of Natural History
in the Old Skating- Rink Bldg.
Those attending are asked to
bring roast moose, salmon spread,
hot dogs, or other salable sand
wich material. Total proceeds
from the auction and sale of food
will go toward a fund to build a
museum. The British Broadcast
ing Co. film on Alaska has been
re-scheduled and will be shown on
May 7.
ture appears to be the limiting
factor.
The biannual check of perman
ent moose browse plots establish
ed in 1952 was made in May and
October. Browse remaining last
spring was the lowest since 1954,
but a good summer’s increase in
hardwood production was again
recorded in October.
Sample clipping of browse
available in January 1962 ranged
from no browse to 468 pounds per
acre. Moose require from 40-60
pounds of feed per day, depend
ing on size of animal, to maintain
themselves during severe winters.
Protein analysis of hardwood
browse species varied from 6CJ in
the dormant winter period to a
high of 19f/r in midsummer. The
quality of forage — percentage of
crude protein — decreases as the
rate of browse utilization or ov
erbrowsing increases.
“Animals have died of starva
tion with full stomachs due to the
poor quality of the feed,’’ Hakala
concluded.
Read the Classified ads—it pays
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Ladies Clear Plastic
OVERSHOES
SIZES 4 THRU 11
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ANNUAL
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at the Fire Hall in Kenai
Saturday, May 4, 1963, 8 p.m.
Door Prizes ★ Refreshments
Admission $1.00
* * - •> * " ■ •
i
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