Natural science and the American government: fur seal management from gilded age to progressive era

Abstract

This thesis examines the study and management of Alaskan fur seals from 1867 to 1914. Government involvement in resource conservation expanded during this period, as did the role of experts. Federal officials charged with managing fur seals often sought advice from scientists, and over the years naturalists studied the animals regularly. Despite this apparent cooperation, scientific recommendations rarely took precedence over other considerations. Fur seal history illuminates obstacles facing scientists as they tried, and failed, to control resource use. Scientists often lost credibility as a result of the changing nature of their profession, but, as this study shows, the most important barriers to expert influence were entrenched economic, political, and diplomatic agendas within the federal government.