The Daily Alaska empire., 1938-03-10
NEW RENTALS
 FOR FUR FARM
 ISLANDS GIVEN
United States Forest De- partment Announces
 DownwardRevision


 A downward revision in island fur farm rentals is announced by the U. $. Forest Service at Juneau, eff fective at the beginning of this call endar year and continuing for the next five-year period. The new rates for islands, or groups of islands, under one permit are as follows:
 500 acres or under, $12.50 per year.
 501 to 1000 acres, $25 per year.
 1,00l to 2,500 acres, $50 per year.
 Over 2.500 acres, $125 per year.
 The Forest Service also advises that hereafter, islands over 1000 acres in area and now unoccupied will not be available for fur farm permit, nor will transfer of permits be approved for islands over 1000 acres which are now stocked In the latter case. if the improvements belonging to the present permittee are to be sold to a qualified appli- cant, only an area sufficient for the pen raising of foxes will be available to the new permittee. No new permits Gas distinct from trans fers) will be issued for any islands, regardless of their size, which, in the judgment of the Forest Service, cannot be operated successfully. The last two rate items mentioned above apply only to islands covered by ex isting permits.
 Industry Started
 The raising of blue foxes on is lands in the National Forests of Alaska was minor and seldom heard of industry until about 1920 According to Regional Forester B. Frank Hefntzleman, a total of 21 National Forest permits were in effect at the end of the year 1919 By 1920 this number had increased to 59 and by 1925 it had reached its peak of 210 permits. At one time or another, 300 separate islands had been under permit Practically every island between 20 and 5000 acres, and separated from other islands by more than few hundred yards, was applied for. The Alaska Forest Ser vice organization heartily approved . of island fox farming, as it prom ised a splendid opportunity for eco- homie development by local people It was family enterprise" type of industry and offered Alaskans of limited means an opportunity to pool their capital in small local un- dertakings.
 The original Forest Service rental schedules were set when the indus try was prosperous and rapidly eX- banding, states MT Heintzleman, and quite naturally were a reflec- tion of these conditions. The charges ranged from minimum of $25 to a maximum of $250.
 UnsOlved Problems
 Unfortunately, the industry failed to meet expectations In the first place, there were and still are too many unknown factors in the rais- ing of this wild animal in captivity. For example, parasites, especially in- testinal worms, are an unsolved problem. They have proved very destructive to young foxes and have so badly infested many islands as to force abandonment of the enter prises there. The proper food ration for females and young is another acute problem. Secondly, island fox ranch1ng has been found to give inadequate control over breeding and a consequent deterioration in fur quality. The third major trouble has been that blue fox fur lost much of it's former popularity in the style centers. Prices had decreased alarm ingly before 1929, and the general economic depression just about added the finishing blow to the in- dustry. The number of National For ests islands now under permit has dropped to 127.
 Conditions Surveyed
 In 1892, the low point of the de- the Forest Service tempor- arily reduced the established fox island rentals by 50 percent with the thought that the full rates would me reinstated when the industry These temporary rates were continued to the end of 1887 Recently MT. Heintzleman's office made a survey of conditions among the island fox farmers and this study indicated quite clearly that the free-running of foxes on is- lands, as now practiced, had largely been an unprofitable enterprise and that the situation, with respect to the larger islands, has been defin- ltely unsuccessful. MT Heintzleman expects that the Territorial Fur Station, now being es- tablished near Petersburg, will be able within five years to give the industry and the Forest Service con- crete information on the changes, If any, that can be made in island ranch methods and practices that will improve the prospects for suc- cess on the small and moderately sized islands; that is to say, islands up to 1000 acres in area. The above five-year schedule of rental fees