In 1922, the Royal Commission on Reindeer and Musk-ox recommended the establishment of experimental reindeer herds in selected regions in Canada's north. Following the submission of this report, the federal government made arrangements to purchase a herd of reindeer from Alaska and on March 6, 1935, control of the herd was transferred to the Canadian government. In 1932, the federal government established an Inter-departmental Committee on Reindeer Policy to assist in the administration of reindeer herding activities. In 1933, this committee was renamed the Inter-departmental Reindeer Committee. The Committee consisted of representatives from a number of federal agencies, including the Northwest Territories Council, the National Museum, the Dominion Lands Administration, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Department of Indian Affairs, the National Parks Branch and the Department of Agriculture as well as various expert guests.

Alfred E. Preble was born on August 11, 1880 in Wilmington, Massachusetts. He attended Tufts College in Medford, Mass. from 1900 to 1904, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Science. While in College, he was an assistant on three surveys organized by the Bureau of Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture, led by his brother, Edward A. Preble. The first survey in 1900 was to Fort Churchill, the second in 1901 to Fort Resolution and the third in 1903, to continue a survey of the Athabasca and Mackenzie river regions to Fort Good Hope. The expedition, consisting of Edward Alexander Preble, Alfred E. Preble and Merrit Carey left Washington in May 1903 and arrived in Athabasca Landing mid May. The party traveled to Fort Resolution and then split with Merrit Carey and Alfred E. Preble traveling to the Mackenzie River and northward towards Fort Wrigley. They reached Fort Wrigley on July 20, 1903 and set out for the return trip on July 22, 1903. During the course of their trip, they made numerous observations on both flora and fauna. Alfred Preble was also a participant in a faunal survey to Fort George, James Bay in 1912. This survey was sponsored by the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh and led by W.E. Clyde Todd. He devoted the majority of his life to teaching high school chemistry and physics. He died at Center Ossipee, New Hampshire, July 11, 1950.