Anthropogenic Uses and Impact

Institute of Social and Economic ResearchUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

Yukon Lowland – Kuskokwim Mountains – Lime HillsRapid Ecoregional Assessment

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

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

Arctic Social Indicators – Domains

Health Population & demographics

Material well-being

Education Cultural well-being

Closeness to nature

Fate control

• 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

• % students in post-secondary education

• % post-secondary education

• % graduates living in community

• Language retention

• % pop engaged in subsistence

• Subsistence harvest

• Subsistence consumption

• Households engaged in subsistence

• % of Natives in govt.

• % land locally controlled

• % of public expenses raised locally

• % speAlaskaing Native language

Arctic Social Indicators – Overlap of Domains

Health

Population & demographics

Material well-being

Education

Cultural well-being

Closeness to nature

Fate control

• Access to health care

• Self-reported health

• Obesity • Smoking

• Total population

• Births• Population

change• Age/sex • Ethnicity

Per capita household income

• % students in post-secondary education

• % post-secondary education

• % graduates living in community

% pop engaged in subsistence

• Subsistence consumption

• % of Natives in govt.

• % land locally controlled

• % of public expenses raised locally

Deaths

Migration

% speaking Native language

Subsistence harvest

Arctic Social Indicators – Available DataASI domain ISER measure SourceHealth Injury death rate (average 2003 to 2008) Vital StatisticsPopulation & Demography Native share of population 2010 US Census 2010

Population & Demography Population change 2008 to 2012 Alaska Department of Labor, US CensusMaterial well-being Total employment 2011 Alaska Department of Labor, ALARIMaterial well-being Private sector employment 2011 Alaska Department of Labor, ALARI

Material well-being Nominal diesel fuel price

ISER, Alaska Energy Authority, Alaska Department of Community Economic Development

Material well-being Estimated total incomeISER calculations using Alaska Dept of Labor ALARI data and PFD.

Education Enrollment K-12 2010-2011Alaska Department of Early Education and Development

Education High school graduation rate (average 2000 to 2011)Alaska Department of Early Education and Development

Cultural well-being % of population speaking language other than English American Community Survey 2008-2011

Closeness to nature % of population using subsistence (various years)Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Subsistence Division

Closeness to nature Per capital subsistence harvest (various years)Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Subsistence Division

Fate control Alcohol Control status Alaska Beverage Control

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

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

High cost-death-subsistence

High fuel prices,High subsistence harvests, Use of Native language

Autonomy

Percent of the population Alaska Native, Local option law - alcohol control

Demographics and Subsistence

Decline in population, Native language, high subsistence participation

Anthropogenic Footprint• Includes all human activity

• Major data gaps• Subsistence use areas

• Other parts under works• Land status and implications for land management

CommunitiesTotal population just over 5000 (2012)

Four hub communities• Aniak• McGrath• Galena• Illiamna

Region is landlocked

Two major rivers (transportation corridors)• Yukon• Kuskokwim

Non-river transportation Network

Energy Infrastructure

Mining

Land Status• Many different categories• Ownership• Regulation• Monitoring• Other types of jurisdiction

• Working on indentifying appropriate definitions

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.

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

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

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

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

TEK Bibliography

TEK – Data Viewer

TEK – Query and Results

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