By Aaron Poe
Special to the Turnagain Times
Land managers in the Sound have heard concerns expressed by subsistence users about displacement from traditional harvest areas resulting from increased competition with private and commercial guided sport fish and hunting groups.
In an effort to address this issue the Chugach National Forest, in partnership with local community entities, is embarking on a project to map subsistence harvest patterns for residents of Chenega, Cordova, Tatitlek, and Whittier.
Significant research on subsistence harvest has been conducted in cooperation with PWS communities since the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and much has been learned about the importance of subsistence practices to the region’s people. However, there is still a lack of a Sound-wide understanding of the distribution of subsistence harvest efforts.
The Chugach National Forest has conducted a series of studies in PWS to better characterize the distribution and timing of a variety of human activities in the region, most recently embarking on a study of recreation use distribution across the Sound.
By similarly defining subsistence use patterns we hope to better understand the location and timing of overlap between subsistence harvest and other human uses.
Beginning in late March and continuing through April, we will work in partnership with local community groups to launch a series of household interviews in the four subsistence eligible communities of the Sound.
We will be asking residents to share knowledge about the harvest practices of their individual households during a single face-to-face interview. As is the tradition with all such studies, responses will be held in strictest confidence and the information shared will only be summarized at the community level ensuring privacy for those who choose to contribute to this effort.
We hope to have a large and diverse group contributing to this study, to offer the best chance for PWS land managers to protect this important way of life for residents of Whittier, Chenega Bay, Cordova, and Tatitlek.
The knowledge gained from this research and our other human use studies will improve and inform our own management efforts in the face of increasing human use of the Sound.
It is our goal to use the results of this research as a resource for local communities, private landowners, our partner agencies and the public at large. As this work proceeds, we will pursue innovative partnerships and opportunities for public involvement to help break down barriers and boundaries among landowners, communities and user groups. Ideally, these efforts will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders and citizens to focus on the future of PWS and strategies to manage for sustainable human use.’
If you would like to learn more about this project and related efforts, please go to the PWS Framework link on the Chugach National Forest web page: www.fs.fed.us/r10/chugach/ Or contact me (Aaron Poe) directly via email: apoe@fs.fed.us or by telephone at: 907-754-2345.
We are interested in your thoughts and insights as we proceed with this work and are happy to keep interested folks up to date on our progress.
Aaron Poe is the Chugach National Forest Analysis Coordinator for the Prince William Sound Framework.