The Daily Alaska empire., 1950-04-15

''to see whether any injustice has been perpetrated or undue hard ship involved with a view of cor recting any possible abuse. Reservations No Way Out "In regard to your suggestion that reservations are an alternative to enforcement of game laws /. legal opinion says that exactly the same game laws will apply and will be no less vigorously enforced on than off reservations.
 Tt is therefore clear that reser- vations furnish no solution whatso- ever.
 'The matter gives me great con- cern and I will do my best to see that enforcement of game laws, sole purpose of which is to preserve game for future generations of Alaskans, be not accomplished by unduly harsh and drastic official acts which impair the livelihood of those who depend on hunting for focd and their livelihood"
 An answer from IpaIook was awaited here, with expectations that he might change his view. Rhode, when questioned, defended his services action with the follow ing statement:
 The widespread wholesale and wasteful slaughter of caribou makes it imperative that some action be taken to safeguard these animals from further depletion. "The recent seizure of guns at Noatak was fair, considerate and justified in order to help curb this wasteful slaughter and to safeguard the caribou for the future. Caribou in this area are taken only by native peoples and it should be their direct concern to conserve the herds for their own use"
 He said that of the seven deprived of their guns, most were single, had no dependents and had received some cash income during the past summer. Ray Woolford, service represen- tative in Kotzebue, who questioned the 37 men, said in a communica- tion to Rhode that "other rifles weren't seized because we had held no previous conferences with the people.
 Didn't Prosecute Fully
 After studying Woolford's report, Rhode said:
 "The case shows that the service did not prosecute to the full extent of the law because this case was the first in the village and the people have not had the laws ex- plained fully to them"
 More than 3,000,00O caribou roamed Alaska ranges IS years ago. with the number today estimated at around only 160,O0O.
 'The advent of modern firearms together with wild shooting into herds" said Rhode, greatly in- creases the kill and causes much crippling. If the hunters admit kill ing 280 animals surely many more are killed or crippled and wasted.
 Usually shooting continues until the herd is out of sight CT the hunter is out of shells, with no thought of the future"
 Cant Be CondOned"
 This type of killing is unneces- sary to the current needs of the people and simply cannot be con- doned by an agency of the govern ment charged with the conserva- tion of natural resources.
 If our action is criticized" he warned, it seems to me it should be because the penalties are not severe enough"
 Rhode took Ipalook's wire to in- fer that his service does not re- cognize problems of the Eskimos.
 "The reservation idea needs no comment from me-" he said, lex cept that caribou have unpredict- able migrations and I fail to see where reservation would be of any value in providing more animals for the native welfare Caribou roam constantly, never stopping even when a calf is born-the t>.lf starts ambling beside it's mother 10 minutes after it is on the ground"
 Laws Are For Natives
 Rhode maintained that conser- vation is for everyone, and the pro- lection and wise use of wildlife in Interior Alaska is largely for fu- ture prosperity of the people there. mot for those in New York to take out license and kill them"
 Conservation of wildlife." he said, lis more important to the na- tives than to anyone else. as their very lives depend on it, whether in or out of reservation"
 Rhode and his biologists. after prolonged study, feel that in order