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5.3.3.wavAlaska's first big economic boom was based on exploiting an abundant natural resource, animal furs. In the 1740s, Russians and other Europeans came to Alaska to harvest or trade for furs, especially sea otter furs. At the time, sea otter fur was the most valuable fur in the world. In today's dollars, a single sea otter pelt was worth approximately $800 in China. Fur seals and land animals, such as beavers, bears, and foxes, were also valuable trade items. By the 1760s, the average worth of the Alaskan fur trade was more than $100 million in today's dollars.
The fur trade was the chief reason the Russians came to and stayed in Alaska. This is true even though they also farmed, fished, logged, manufactured, mined, ran sawmills, and built ships. They did most of these things only to support the fur trade. However, unsustainable hunting drastically declined sea otter and fur seal populations. By the 1820s, harvests were half what they had been a decade earlier. By the end of the Russian Era, sea otters had been killed off from most of their range and were close to extinction. The collapse of the fur economy was a major factor in Russia's decision to sell Alaska in 1867. The decline of the fur trade illustrates the importance of managing natural resources in sustainable ways.
During the Russian Era, over 1 million sea otters were killed for the fur trade
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