Evaluating Differences in Household Subsistence Harvest Patterns between the Ambler Project and Non-Project Zones

Western Alaska is one of largest inhabited, roadless areas in North America and, indeed, the world. Access, via a new road that would transverse Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR), to a mining district in a vast roadless section of northwest Alaska has been proposed. Given the potential effects of the road on nearby communities, we analyzed how communities connected to the road system compare to their unconnected counterparts. Specifically, using zero inflated negative binomial models, we analyzed subsistence harvest data to understand factors that influence subsistence production at the household level. We found substantial difference in these factors between communities near the proposed road (project zone (PZ) communities and a comparable set of road accessible communities outside the region, and were affected by household characteristics such as the gender of the head of household, number of children, and income. Total subsistence production of project zone communities was 1.8 – 2.5 times greater than that of non-project zone communities. Communities with a higher percentage of Alaska Native residents had greater per capita subsistence harvests. Higher household income levels were associated with lower subsistence harvest levels. Roads can provide access for hunters from outside the region to traditional subsistence hunting grounds used by local residents that would not be very accessible if not for the road. Our proxy for competition (number of nonlocal moose hunters) indicates that resident moose harvest amounts are inversely related to the number of hunters in a particular area. If subsistence harvest patterns for project zone communities currently off the road changed to mirror existing non-project zone harvests due to the road, the financial cost would be USD $6,900 – 10,500 per household per year (assuming an$8/lb. ‘replacement’ cost for subsistence harvests). This represents about 33% of the median household income. Taken together, our results suggest that the proposed road should be expected to substantially impact subsistence production in communities that are not currently connected to the road system. The scale of our data did not allow for the comparison of the impacts of the different proposed routes but the impacts of different routes is likely minor in relation to the presence or absence of the proposed roadFigures / Tables / Abstract/Executive Summary / Acknowledgments / Introduction / The Proposed Road and Mine / Study Area / Communities / Background / Modeling Household Harvest / Conclusions / Literature CitedYe

This Land is Our Land: Raising Awareness of Contemporary U.S. Environmental and Social Justice Issues through Folksong

The purpose of this project is to increase awareness of the current environmental and social injustices occurring in the United States. Through music and grassroots storytelling, the histories and struggles of communities and individuals who are living directly under such unjust conditions will be shared with various constituencies of the public who has little or no knowledge of, or is not in direct relationship to, these conditions. This transference of information and exchange of ideas will occur through the following: the production of an audio recording of song-stories and first-person narratives from the participants, a folk music performance tour including information sessions, as well as a website to document the project and provide supplemental information and links. By raising consciousness of these environmental justice issues within a larger portion of the population, the chance for social change through action is increased. The use of music as a tool for conveying ideas of protest and change, both transferring and transforming culture, can be seen in all of the major movements of American history; including the Civil Rights movement, the Anti-War movement, the Populist Farmer’s movement, the rise of the American Unions, the American Student movement, and the Feminist movement. This project aims to utilize the proven successes of social justice through grassroots organizing and musical activism towards our future social and environmental equality

Canadian media and the developing world: a critical mapping of key issues, events, and actors.

This study has identified a number of features of Canadian news coverage of developing countries. • First, as the literature review shows,international events may attract considerable attention from the Canadian news media, but the proportion of international stories that take up questions relating to development are very small. Moreover, the closure of foreign bureaus and thinning of editorial resources over the past decades has led to more heavy reliance on wire services and a decline in what National Geographic’s Paul Salopek called “deep journalism.” For Salopek, deep journalism “is informed by deep immersion in the story at ground level… revealing the texture of lives of people… who live within front-page stories, but normally don’t make the news themselves” (Bishop, 2015). • In the sample examined here, newspapers, when compared to digital and broadcast media, included more coverage of issues and events in the developing world (but also more news stories in general). In the English media, the Toronto Star had the highest volume of all international news coverage of the developing world, both in terms of development and non-development stories. In the French media, Le Devoir had the highest volume of all coverage. National newspapers generally had more development-themed coverage, although the Calgary Herald and Montreal Gazette had a higher volume of non-development coverage than The Globe and Mail and National Post. • Terrorism and war were the major drivers of the news coverage of the developing world in both English and French. Not surprisingly, countries like Iraq and Nigeria, where conflict was very high in 2015, were the main focus of the non-development-themed coverage. • When looking at the amount of development-themed coverage of the 18 selected countries across all news platforms, we see very little reporting in general and therefore it is important to be cautious in the conclusions that are made about it (other than the conclusion that development stories are largely invisible). Overall, multiple country stories in English and French were the most predominant, as opposed to stories dealing with development issues in single countries. • In English language media, the individual countries of Haiti, Kenya, and Nigeria had the most amount of coverage and, again, traditional print coverage had more coverage than the digital or broadcast media; in French, Haiti, Iraq, and DR Congo had the highest volume. • The English national papers generally had more development-themed coverage than the regional papers, although the Ottawa Citizen and Calgary Herald were third and fourth respectively in this type of coverage. As noted above, the Toronto Star had the highest proportion of stories about developing countries in general as well as the highest proportion of development-themed stories. The Globe and Mail, while having fewer stories about developing countries generally, had the second highest number of development-themed stories. 34 • In French, Le Devoir had the most development-themed coverage, followed by La Presse. Considering the number of media included in the study, the proportion of development-themed stories in French-language newspapers seems comparatively higher to the English-language sample. The number of stories is similar for Radio-Canada and CBC. • The largest proportion of development-themed stories were hard news rather than opinion, although the French coverage did have a higher proportion of news coverage when compared to the English. In English, the most common development themes of these stories were about infrastructure, education, and gender, while in French, the most common themes were economic development, human rights, and governance. • Most of the coverage that was identified with an author was written by staff at the news organizations, although French stories were more likely than English stories to have used wire services (nearly all from AFP). • In English, almost half of the stories were prominently placed on the first four pages of the publication while in French the stories were more likely to be found after page four. • The stories in English were generally shorter when compared to the French stories. Approximately 20 percent of all stories (English and French) were 1,000 words or more. Only 47 percent of English stories and 54 percent of French stories were more than 750words. • NGOs were the most quoted sources with over 40 different NGOs identified in the English and French.Fondation Aga Khan (Canada

The Application of Farm Programs to Commercial Fisheries: The Case of Crop Insurance for the Bristol Bay Commercial Salmon Fisheries

Under the direction of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000, the U.S. Congress proposed a crop insurance program for the Bristol Bay, Alaska, commercial salmon fishery. This study examines the feasibility of extending crop insurance to this commercial fishery. The specific focus of this analysis is on differences between this commercial capture fishery and agricultural enterprises in the context of property rights and producer control. Findings show that differences between this commercial fishery and agricultural enterprises would require substantial modifications to existing crop insurance programs. Furthermore, it is recommended that the consideration of extending crop insurance be delayed until this fishery is rationalized.Bristol Bay, commercial fisheries, crop insurance, farm programs, property rights, risk management, salmon, Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

Impact Analysis of Changes in Fishery Regulations in the Norton Sound Red King Crab Fishery

In 1994, the Norton Sound summer red king crab fishery became the only federally managed Alaska king crab fishery designated as "super-exclusive." The new designation has fundamentally changed this fishery's industrial structure: previously dominated by a highly capitalized, distant-water fleet, it has become a small-scale local fishery. A regional economic input-output model was constructed to evaluate the economic impacts of this "new" fishery on the Nome region. The model results indicate that in 1994 this industry was able to contribute over half a million dollars in income to an economically depressed region of Alaska where few local industries exist and the prospects for developing new industries are dim. Furthermore, model results suggest that the regional economic impact nearly doubles when the contributions of both increased local processing and participation by other western Alaska communities are included in the estimation.En 1994, la pêche estivale au crabe de l'Alaska dans le Norton Sound est devenue l'unique pêche gérée par le gouvernement fédéral portant le label de «super-exclusive». Cette nouvelle désignation a fondamentalement changé la structure industrielle de cette pêcherie. Dominée auparavant par une flotte hauturière fortement capitalisée, elle est devenue une industrie de pêche locale à petite échelle. On a construit un modèle des entrées-sorties économiques de la région afin d'évaluer les retombées économiques de cette «nouvelle» pêcherie sur la région du Norton Sound. Les résultats du modèle indiquent qu'en 1994 cette industrie a réussi à injecter plus d'un demi-million de dollars de revenus dans une région de l'Alaska en pleine crise économique, où existent peu d'industries locales et où les perspectives de création de nouvelles industries sont minimes. De plus, les résultats du modèle suggèrent que les retombées sur l'économie régionale doublent quand on inclut dans les chiffres à la fois l'augmentation de l'industrie de transformation locale et la participation d'autres communautés de l'Alaska occidental