Notes From Alaska
Lessons from the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group
By Betsy Beardsley, Arctic Environmental Justice Program Director
The Western Arctic Caribou Herd is the largest caribou herd in Alaska, with a population of over 500,000. Its range is the entire northwest quarter of Alaska, spanning an area about the size of Montana. Over 40 Alaska Native villages depend on the herd to feed their families each year, as they have for generations.
I had the the privilege of attending the annual meeting of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group in early December. The working group includes a broad range of stakeholders—subsistence hunters, sport hunters, hunting guides, outfitters, reindeer herders, and environmental leaders—committed to the conservation of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. Its mission is to “Develop an integrated grass roots process for sharing representation, responsibility and decision-making among stakeholders in management of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd.” Agencies from the State of Alaska and Department of the Interior meet with working group each year to update and share information.
What most impressed me with the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group was the time spent sharing traditional knowledge from elders and working groups members. The Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group also sponsored a youth learning project for students from the Kiana village school to help biologists collar caribou during the summer of 2007. The students presented their experience in a power point presentation at the Working Group annual meeting. The interaction between elders and youth was heartwarming. However, most notable was the interest in traditional knowledge and subsistence observations from the sport hunters represented on the working group. In many cases subsistence users and sport hunters will disagree over management of game resources. However, sport hunters and subsistence representatives on the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group are committed to working together for the conservation of this dynamic caribou herd.
Much of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd (WACH) habitat is within the border of the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPR-A). The Utukok Uplands of the Southern NPR-A are an important insect relief area for the herd in the summer months. A big concern now of the working group is mitigating cumulative impacts of several proposed or current development projects in the Northwest Arctic. Oil and gas leasing in the Teshekpuk Lake area could have a major impact on the migration of the Western Arctic Herd. Climate Change, the expansion of Red Dog Mine - the largest zinc mine in the world - along with an aggressive push for coal mining in the NW Arctic are additional cumulative effects the Western Arctic Herd faces.
One thing I will take away from the meeting is a deeper understanding and appreciation of the goals of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group:
- Ensure the conservation of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd
- Safeguard the spiritual and cultural well being of Alaska Natives and the interests of all users of the herd
- Integrate indigenous knowledge and western science
May 6th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Hi Betsy, It was super seeing you on the morning news. I love the work that you are doing so in the vernacular of the kids…. You go Girl. How is your family? Drop a note when you can, I am woking with a project back at Bartlett with native kids with Bob Moser and Mary Moran (we call our little group the retirement home) I would love to hear from you at some point. Joe Wilson