Local Caribou Availability

Abstract

The purpose of this document is to report findings of the NSF Arctic Community Sustainability Project’s research on community caribou availability to university-based investigators for development of the project's SYNTHESIS MODEL. Field work for the project was completed in Old Crow, Fort McPherson, Aklavik, and Arctic Village from April 1997 to April 1998 by Gary Kofinas (all communities) and Stephen R. Braund and Associates (Aklavik and Arctic Village) in collaboration with local research associates. The report provides a brief literature review on caribou movements and distribution patterns of the Porcupine caribou herd, local knowledge propositions about caribou movements and hunting patterns, mapped range-wide zones, and values for use in the modeling effort. The findings presented in this report are focused one part of that study -- the conditions affecting community caribou availability.