Recovering Musk Ox Farm celebrates 50 years

PALMER -- Thanks to a $20,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Palmer Musk Ox Farm is recovering from a disastrous year in 2003 and slow tourism in 2004.

A major windstorm in 2003 caused substantial and costly damage to much of the farm, blowing over fences, picnic tables and feeders and tearing apart a roof and animal shelter.

Cora Simon Moses, director of the farm, said things are beginning to look a little better for the 50-year-old operation.

The Musk Ox Project first began in 1954 when Arctic explorer and anthropologist John J. Teal Jr., started studying musk oxen in Canada, and in 1964 he established the first-ever domesticated herd at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Wild musk ox herds in Alaska were completely destroyed by the early 1900s. They were later reintroduced onto Nunivak Island in western Alaska from animals taken off Greenland in the 1930s. In 1986, the farm and musk oxen were moved from Fairbanks to 80 acres north of Palmer. The animals remain part of the only domesticated herd in the world.

Teal's vision was to harvest soft, woolly underhair -- also known as qiviut -- from the prehistoric animals in order to give traditional subsistence people in Alaska a reliable source of income. Today, the Native-owned Oomingmak, Musk Ox Producers' Cooperative, makes hats, scarves, hoods and other items from the wool. Roughly 200 women, mostly from western Alaska, work in the cooperative.

Moses said the musk ox project derives about one-third of its yearly income from tourism, with between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors annually. Last year, however, was a slow season.

"I think the tourists were generally younger last year," Moses said. "They had less disposable income and that's not good for tourism. I think the effects of 9-11 lingered."

This year, however, Moses said business is a little better and with help from the Kellogg Foundation and other grants, she remains hopeful that the 50th anniversary will be something to celebrate.

The Musk Ox Farm is open year-round for tours. Tours are by appointment only through the winter. Call 745-2353 for more information.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.