Browsing by Author "Kofinas, Gary P."

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Adaptation and Sustainability in a Small Arctic Community: Results of an Agent-Based Simulation Model
(2004) Berman, Matthew; Nicolson, Craig; Kofinas, Gary P.; Tetlichi, Joe; Martin, Stephanie
"Climate warming and resource development could alter key Arctic ecosystem functions that support fish and wildlife resources harvested by local indigenous communities. A different set of global forces--government policies and tourism markets--increasingly directs local cash economies that communities use to support subsistence activities. Agent-based computational models (ABMs) contribute to an integrated assessment of community sustainability by simulating how people interact with each other and adapt to changing economic and environmental conditions. Relying on research and local knowledge to provide rules and parameters for individual and collective decision making, our ABM generates hypothetical social histories as adaptations to scenario-driven changes in environmental and economic conditions. The model generates projections for wage employment, cash income, subsistence harvests, and demographic change over four decades based on a set of user-defined scenarios for climate change, subsistence resources, development, and government spending. Model outcomes assess how scenarios associated with economic and climate change might affect the local economy, resource harvests, and the well-being of residents for the Western Arctic Canadian community of Old Crow, Yukon. The economic and demographic outcomes suggest implications for less quantifiable social and cultural changes. The model can serve as a discussion tool for a fuller exploration of community sustainability and adaptation issues."
Epistemological Pluralism: Reorganizing Interdisciplinary Research
(2008) Miller, Thaddeus R.; Baird, Timothy D.; Littlefield, Caitlin M.; Kofinas, Gary P.; Chapin, F. Stuart; Redman, Charles L.
"Despite progress in interdisciplinary research, difficulties remain. In this paper, we argue that scholars, educators, and practitioners need to critically rethink the ways in which interdisciplinary research and training are conducted. We present epistemological pluralism as an approach for conducting innovative, collaborative research and study. Epistemological pluralism recognizes that, in any given research context, there may be several valuable ways of knowing, and that accommodating this plurality can lead to more successful integrated study. This approach is particularly useful in the study and management of social ecological systems. Through resilience theory's adaptive cycle, we demonstrate how a focus on epistemological pluralism can facilitate the reorganization of interdisciplinary research and avoid the build-up of significant, but insufficiently integrative, disciplinary-dominated research. Finally, using two case studies urban ecology and social ecological research in Alaska we highlight how interdisciplinary work is impeded when divergent epistemologies are not recognized and valued, and that by incorporating a pluralistic framework, these issues can be better explored, resulting in more integrated understanding."
Heterogeneity and Resilience of North American Caribou Commons: Towards Adaptive Governance?
(2008) Kofinas, Gary P.
"I compare evolution of select regional caribou commons of North America to identify emergent patterns of social-ecological governance and consider their implications to decision making with rapid global change. There are over 3 million caribou (called wild reindeer in Russia) in North American that have historically provided important cultural, economic, and nutritional well being to a diversity of indigenous communities of the North. Governance of commons for large barren-ground herds has long been of interest to CPR theorists, particularly when co-management emerged as a promising alternative in conditions of high uncertainty, cultural disparity and jurisdictional complexity. Regional crises because of scientific assessments and related indigenous-state conflicts led to formal co- management which was negotiated and implemented to integrate knowledge systems, build trust, and increase compliance with state regulations. In other regions, formal caribou co-management has been rejected and more ad hoc and polycentric approaches of commons governance have been used. Despite decades of intense scientific research with and without co-management, the state of ecological knowledge about caribou is poor. Forces of global change, including climate change and the increased push for mineral exploration and development, complicate the challenges of caribou commons management. There is a need to understand if and how co-management is being transformed to implement adaptive co-management principles and realize adaptive governance. The emergence of a pan-arctic caribou monitoring and assessment network represents a significant recent change in governance. If and how it will address the challenges of global change is uncertain."
Institutional Innovation in Less than Ideal Conditions: Management of Commons by an Alaska Native Village Corporation
(2010) Dayo, Dixie; Kofinas, Gary P.
"Alaska Natives have experienced less than ideal conditions for engaging in management of their homeland commons. During the first 100 years after the Treaty of Cession of 1867, Alaska Natives received limited recognition by the United States. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon after tedious negotiations by Alaska Natives, the United States Congress, and special interest groups. As part of the settlement, 12 regional corporations and over 200 village corporations were established to receive fee title to 40 million acres of land and a cash settlement of $962.5 million for lands lost. This arrangement has been considered by some as an act of social engineering to assimilate Alaska Natives into a capitalist economy. In spite of the goal of assimilation, Alaska Natives have utilized ANCSA to strengthen their indigenous identity and revitalize their cultural traditions. This paper examines the innovative efforts of Alaska Natives to successfully manage their commons despite the introduction of new and foreign institutions. Since the passing of ANCSA, Alaska Natives have cultivated good skills to navigate and modify legal systems and engage bureaucracies with considerable success. More than 36 years after the passage of ANCSA, most Alaska Native homelands remain intact in ways not previously imagined. Village corporations have used a number of legal methods to allocate land to shareholders, manage ownership of stocks, and contribute to the Alaska economy. ANCSA provided no special aboriginal rights for harvesting and management of fish and wildlife. Resultant rural-urban conflicts have been confronted with a novel mix of agency-Native cooperation and litigation. Although aspects of the arrangement are not ideal, the conditions are not hopeless. Our paper explores the hypothesis that while formal institutions matter, informal institutions have considerable potential to generate innovative solutions that overcome formal institutional shortfalls. We draw on the experiences of Native corporations in several regions of Alaska, with a focus on Bean Ridge Corporation (BRC), the village corporation which owns lands in and around the community of Manley Hot Springs, Alaska. Programs to distribute corporate earnings, address trespassing, and maintain cultural traditions are described."
'Letting the Leaders Pass': Barriers to Using Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Comanagement as the Basis of Formal Hunting Regulations
(2014) Padilla, Elisabeth; Kofinas, Gary P.
"We studied a case of failure in applying traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in comanagement as the basis for formal hunting regulations. We based the study on the Porcupine Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) Herd 'let the leaders pass' policy, established for the Dempster Highway of the Western Canadian Arctic, and identified conditions creating barriers in the successful application of TEK through comanagement. Stated as propositions, identified barriers include: (1) the context-specific nature of TEK limits its application in resource management regulations; (2) changes in traditional authority systems, hunting technology, and the social organization of harvesting caribou affect the effectiveness of TEK approaches in a contemporary social setting; (3) indigenous efforts toward self-government and political autonomy limit regional comanagement consensus in a heterogeneous cultural landscape; (4) the mismatch of agency enforcement of hunting regulations and TEK-based education is problematic. We analyzed the case through four historical phases of caribou management, complementing the study with a literature review of TEK and wildlife comanagement to explain why TEK integration of caribou leaders in regulatory resource management fell short of success. Identifying and understanding the social dynamics related to these barriers make apparent solutions for transforming the comanagement process."
Meeting Institutional Criteria for Social Resilience: A Nested Risk System Model
(2014) Blair, Berill; Lovecraft, Amy L.; Kofinas, Gary P.
"Communities of Alaska’s North Slope face increased stresses from cumulative effects of industrial development, resource use, and changing cryospheric and socioeconomic conditions. Given these multiple pressures, what avenues exist for citizens and decision makers to exchange knowledge about impacts of oil resource extraction in Alaska, and how do the successes and failures of knowledge exchange affect the resilience of the local social ecological system? We focused our research on the risk management process of Alaska North Slope oil resources, drawing on literature that has grown out of the risk society thesis and concepts of resilience science. We surveyed state and federal initiatives designed to increase local and indigenous stakeholder engagement in science and policy issues because such guidelines and regulations impact on the abilities of local peoples and communities to adapt sustainability strategies. Perceived risks and desired outcomes of stakeholders on the front lines of climate change and resource development should inform regulations that aim to anticipate future impacts and needed adaptation strategies. Integration of local values and perceptions in an adaptive risk management approach is fundamental in resilience-based ecosystem stewardship. The three case studies we have presented show that current provisions fail to equitably include the local and indigenous knowledge of Alaska’s North Slope Borough communities in environmental risk mediation in proportion to the scope of risks inherent in current oil development policies. Our findings underscore the need for new, proactive risk management strategies that build on local stakeholders’ rationalities on the trade-offs of risks and opportunities."
Parks, People, and Change: The Importance of Multistakeholder Engagement in Adaptation Planning for Conserved Areas
(2014) Knapp, Corinne N.; Kofinas, Gary P.; Fresco, Nancy; Carothers, Courtney; Craver, Amy; Chapin, Stuart F.
"Climate change challenges the traditional goals and conservation strategies of protected areas, necessitating adaptation to changing conditions. Denali National Park and Preserve (Denali) in south central Alaska, USA, is a vast landscape that is responding to climate change in ways that will impact both ecological resources and local communities. Local observations help to inform understanding of climate change and adaptation planning, but whose knowledge is most important to consider? For this project we interviewed long-term Denali staff, scientists, subsistence community members, bus drivers, and business owners to assess what types of observations each can contribute, how climate change is impacting each, and what they think the National Park Service should do to adapt. The project shows that each type of long-term observer has different types of observations, but that those who depend more directly on natural resources for their livelihoods have more and different observations than those who do not. These findings suggest that engaging multiple groups of stakeholders who interact with the park in distinct ways adds substantially to the information provided by Denali staff and scientists and offers a broader foundation for adaptation planning. It also suggests that traditional protected area paradigms that fail to learn from and foster appropriate engagement of people may be maladaptive in the context of climate change."
Porcupine Caribou, Impact Assessment, and Political Agendas: Uncertainty and Inequity in the Arctic Refuge Conflict
(1992) Kofinas, Gary P.
"This paper describes one aspect of the legislatively mandated environmental impact assessment process which took place from 1980 through 1987, an institutional arrangement which has been utilized by the U.S. federal government in its on-going Arctic Refuge decision making process. This aspect is the assessment of impacts of oil development to the Porcupine Caribou Herd. It is my intention that this description will provide insights into the effectiveness of this large-scale impact assessment process, illustrating how its techno-scientific approach to decision making was vulnerable to political interests, and how local indigenous communities have, in turn responded. This paper will examine the handling of matters of equity and uncertainty in the process, and will reflect on state-level and local-level reactions to the impact assessment process."
Research Plan for the Study of Rapid Change, Resilience and Vulnerability in Social-Ecological Systems of the Arctic
(2005) Kofinas, Gary P.
"How can research best address the challenges of Arctic sustainability in a world of rapid change? What determines the limitations of adaptation when a system is approaching a critical threshold? What are the social-ecological consequences when critical thresholds are crossed and new conditions emerge? How best do we frame the analysis of vulnerabilities? How can we best structure human institutions and social organization to build resilience and facilitate adaptation in conditions of rapid change? And how should Arctic residents engage in this research? These questions reflect a broad set of issues that motivated our group to gather in Vancouver, Canada this past April, 2005, and begin developing an international research plan to explore issues of rapid change and sustainability through an analysis of resilience and vulnerability of Arctic social-ecological systems. We are one of several working groups preparing for the upcoming Second International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP-2), scheduled to take place in Copenhagen in November 2005. Our draft research plan, modified for this issue of The Digest, is intended to stimulate discussion among the northern researcher community and arctic residents about the key themes worthy of study. "Our definition of the Arctic is aimed at capturing the social, economic, political, and ecological processes that are critical properties for the functioning of the Arctic System. Thus, we do not limit the definition of Arctic to more restrictive definitions, such as that region north of the Arctic Circle or north of tree line, but view it as a region integrated within the Global System."
Seasonal Climate Variation and Caribou Availability: Modeling Sequential Movement Using Satellite-Relocation Data
(2013) Nicolson, Craig; Berman, Matthew; West, Colin Thor; Kofinas, Gary P.; Griffith, Brad; Russell, Don; Dugan, Darcy
"Livelihood systems that depend on mobile resources must constantly adapt to change. For people living in permanent settlements, environmental changes that affect the distribution of a migratory species may reduce the availability of a primary food source, with the potential to destabilize the regional social-ecological system. Food security for Arctic indigenous peoples harvesting barren ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) depends on movement patterns of migratory herds. Quantitative assessments of physical, ecological, and social effects on caribou distribution have proven difficult because of the significant interannual variability in seasonal caribou movement patterns. We developed and evaluated a modeling approach for simulating the distribution of a migratory herd throughout its annual cycle over a multiyear period. Beginning with spatial and temporal scales developed in previous studies of the Porcupine Caribou Herd of Canada and Alaska, we used satellite collar locations to compute and analyze season-by-season probabilities of movement of animals between habitat zones under two alternative weather conditions for each season. We then built a set of transition matrices from these movement probabilities, and simulated the sequence of movements across the landscape as a Markov process driven by externally imposed seasonal weather states. Statistical tests showed that the predicted distributions of caribou were consistent with observed distributions, and significantly correlated with subsistence harvest levels for three user communities. Our approach could be applied to other caribou herds and could be adapted for simulating the distribution of other ungulates and species with similarly large interannual variability in the use of their range."
Subsistence Hunting in a Global Economy: Contributions of Northern Wildlife Co-Management to Community Economic Development
(1993) Kofinas, Gary P.
"The management of northern wildlife and the advancement of community economic development may appear to be distantly related endeavours to some. Indeed, for most North Americans living in more southern latitudes, wildlife resources are perceived as having limited economic value to communities, producing revenues only as related to the industries of wilderness tripping, big game hunting, and nature tourism. Yet in Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions of Alaska and Canada, where local economies are supported with a mix of cash income and traditional subsistence harvests, styles of wildlife management and approaches to economic development are intimately linked."
Voices of the Caribou People: A Participatory Videography Method to Document and Share Local Knowledge from the North American Human-Rangifer Systems
(2014) Bali, Archana; Kofinas, Gary P.
"'Voices of the Caribou People' is a participatory videography project for documenting and sharing the local knowledge of caribou-user communities about social-ecological changes. The project was conducted in partnership with indigenous people who share a long and close relationship with caribou and self-identify as the 'Caribou People.' The Caribou People desired to share their knowledge, experiences, challenges, and coping strategies with other indigenous communities and with scientists and wildlife managers. Six communities in the North American Arctic participated in the project, with 99 people interviewed about the ecological, cultural, spiritual, and nutritional aspects of their relationship with caribou. The Caribou People wished to tell their stories with their own voices, without the filter of a researchers interpretations of their messages. The communities defined three project goals, i.e., documentation, communication, and sharing of knowledge, and we identified methodological challenges associated with these goals. Through videography, we sought to overcome these challenges and accomplish community goals, which formed the basis for our projects evaluation. Participants reported changes and concerns ranging from impacts of oil and gas exploration, mining activities, nonlocal hunting, and high energy costs to impacts of climate-related conditions. All interviews were made available in the public domain via the Internet for sharing. In the view of the communities, videography preserved their legacy and served as a repository of traditional knowledge in changing times; visual images were seen as a powerful medium to communicate with policy makers and the public at large and were seen as a preferred informal, unstructured approach. We have (1) described the approach of the Voices of the Caribou People project as a collaborative video methodology and (2) discussed the effectiveness of this method in meeting the goals of participatory research. General insights into the process of using videography as a participatory research tool to study social-ecological systems in partnership with indigenous communities have been provided."