Anthropogenic Uses and Impact

1. Anthropogenic Uses and Impact Yukon Lowland – Kuskokwim Mountains – Lime Hills Rapid Ecoregional Assessment Institute of Social and Economic Research University of Alaska Anchorage

2. Grouping of MQs • Socio-economic conditions • Data reduction • Identification of domains • Attempts at deriving common metrics • Human footprint • Compilation of human activities – past and present • Traditional Ecological Knowledge • Documenting available TEK • Deriving a method to use available TEK for REA purposes

3. Socio economic conditions • Arctic Social Indicators (ASI) • Domains and indicators identified for assessing conditions in the circumpolar North • Identification based on what is important, not what is available • Data gaps were acknowledged • Our approach • Indicators and proxies • Data reduction • A relative comparison for planning and decision-making purposes

4. Arctic Social Indicators – Domains • Infant mortality • Child mortality • Access to health care • Suicides • Self-reported health • Obesity • Smoking • Total population • Births • Deaths • Net migration • Population change • Age/sex • Ethnicity • Per capita household income • Net migration • Subsistence harvest • % of Natives in govt. • % land locally controlled • % of public expenses raised locally • % speAlaskaing Native language • % students in post-secondary education • % post-secondary education • % graduates living in community • Subsistence harvest • Subsistence consumption • Households engaged in subsistence • Language retention • % pop engaged in subsistence

5. Arctic Social Indicators – Overlap of Domains • Access to health care • Self-reported health • Obesity • Smoking • Total population • Births • Population change • Age/sex • Ethnicity Deaths • % of Natives in govt. • % land locally controlled • % of public expenses raised locally % speaking Native language Migration Per capita household income % pop engaged in subsistence • % students in post-secondary education • % post-secondary education • % graduates living in community Subsistence harvest • Subsistence consumption

6. Arctic Social Indicators – Available Data

7. Principal components analysis • Material well being • Places with relatively large populations, high employment, high income, lower fuel prices • High cost, high subsistence, language • High fuel prices, high subsistence harvests, use of Native language • Fate control, autonomy • Alaska Native, strict alcohol control • Population decline, subsistence, language • Declining populations, Native language, high subsistence participation

8. Material Wellbeing • Most smaller communities grouped together representing: • Low levels of material wellbeing • High cost of living • High death rate • High levels of subsistence use • Larger communities, with their direct access to larger markets

9. High cost-death-subsistence • High fuel prices, • High subsistence harvests, • Use of Native language

10. Autonomy • Percent of the population Alaska Native, • Local option law - alcohol control

11. Demographics and Subsistence • Decline in population, • Native language, • high subsistence participation

12. Anthropogenic Footprint • Includes all human activity • Major data gaps • Subsistence use areas • Other parts under works • Land status and implications for land management

13. Communities • Total population just over 5000 (2012) • Four hub communities • Aniak • McGrath • Galena • Illiamna • Region is landlocked • Two major rivers • (transportation corridors) • Yukon • Kuskokwim

14. Non-river transportation Network

15. Energy Infrastructure

16. Mining

17. Land Status • Many different categories • Ownership • Regulation • Monitoring • Other types of jurisdiction • Working on indentifying appropriate definitions

18. Traditional Ecological Knowledge • Transformed the MQ (with AMT approval) • Goals • Literature review • Annotated Bibliography • MS Access database of documents searchable by CA and CE • Methodology to use TEK in REAs.

19. TEK - methodology • Several terms used to identify/describe Traditional Ecological Knowledge – many of them were used as search terms • local ecological knowledge, • indigenous knowledge, • traditional knowledge, and • local knowledge, etc. • More than150 peer-reviewed articles collected for literature review, 57 of which pertain to the YKL region • Bibliography in the works

20. TEK – Collection methods used • Structured interviews • Semi-directed interviews • Informal discussions • Group discussions • Joint site visits (in which both researchers and interviewees/TEK holders participate) • Surveys/questionnaires • Participant observation

21. TEK – General uses • To acquire baseline data to restore degraded habitats • To inform research needs, questions, designs, methodologies • Used in combination with or comparison to scientific data (monitoring, GIS, etc.) • Integrated into community-based natural resource management or voluntary use of common pool resources

22. TEK – General uses in the USA • Used in combination with or comparison to scientific data (monitoring, GIS, etc.) to promote and enact ecological restoration • To inform research needs, questions, designs, methodologies • Can potentially be used in management

23. TEK Bibliography

24. TEK – Data Viewer

25. TEK – Query and Results

26. Next steps • Finalize the socio-economic index variables • Expand to include all communities in the state • Clarify the domain definitions • Clarify interpretation of relative comparisons • Land use • Analyze transportation options • Clarify mining data – ex: placer vs. hard rock mining • Analyze land status • TEK • Develop methodology for using TEK for REA purposes