Subsistence Land Mammal Harvests and Uses, Yukon Flats, Alaska: 2008-2010 Harvest Report and Ethnographic Update
Dates
Year
2012
Citation
Van Lanen, James M., Stevens, Carrie, Brown, Caroline L., Maracle, Karonhiakta'tie Bryan, and Koster, David S., 2012, Subsistence Land Mammal Harvests and Uses, Yukon Flats, Alaska: 2008-2010 Harvest Report and Ethnographic Update: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, v. Technical Paper No. 377.
Summary
This report presents the results of a harvest survey and ethnographic research project that investigated the subsistence uses of large land mammals and furbearers in Game Management Unit 25 in the Yukon Flats region of Interior Alaska. Large land mammal species harvested and used by Yukon Flats residents include moose Alces alces, caribou Rangifer tarandus, black bear Ursus americanus, and brown bear Ursus arctos. Furbearing species included in this study are marten Martes americana, lynx Lynx canadensis, and wolf Canis lupus. For the 2008–2009 study year a total of 284 of 467 households (approximately 61%) were surveyed in the 7 Yukon Flats communities of Beaver, Birch Creek, Chalkyitsik, Circle, Fort Yukon, Stevens Village, and Venetie. [...]
Summary
This report presents the results of a harvest survey and ethnographic research project that investigated the subsistence uses of large land mammals and furbearers in Game Management Unit 25 in the Yukon Flats region of Interior Alaska. Large land mammal species harvested and used by Yukon Flats residents include moose Alces alces, caribou Rangifer tarandus, black bear Ursus americanus, and brown bear Ursus arctos. Furbearing species included in this study are marten Martes americana, lynx Lynx canadensis, and wolf Canis lupus. For the 2008–2009 study year a total of 284 of 467 households (approximately 61%) were surveyed in the 7 Yukon Flats communities of Beaver, Birch Creek, Chalkyitsik, Circle, Fort Yukon, Stevens Village, and Venetie. For the 2009–2010 study year a total of 260 of 414 households (approximately 63%) were surveyed in the same 7 Yukon Flats communities. Overall findings show that moose continue to be the primary wild food resource harvested in Yukon Flats communities. An estimated 105 moose were harvested during the first study year and an estimated 124 moose were harvested during the second study year. Survey findings also demonstrate that strong food sharing networks continue to operate as an essential part of the subsistence economies in these communities. During the first study year 73% of households used moose while only 23% harvested moose, and during the second study year 78% of households used moose while only 26% harvested moose. While certain aspects of Yukon Flats hunting methods, strategies, and perceptions have changed over time, the importance of big game resources for subsistence has not declined. The health of moose and caribou populations in the region is constantly affected by ecological dynamics such as changing climatic conditions, wildfire, and predation, but is also impacted by the local demand for subsistence meat. Additionally, hunting and trapping success in the Yukon Flats is affected by rising fuel costs and the inability to afford motor boat fuel for long distance travel. Respondents consistently expressed a desire to empower resource management at the community level based upon the revival and maintenance of traditional knowledge, the conservation of cow and calf moose, and measured predator control efforts. Respondents envisioned the integration of traditional ecological knowledge into formal education for youth hunters and the implementation of community based wild resource stewardship at the grassroots level as the means to ensure successful management in the future.
