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30 Colo. Nat. Resources Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 245 (2019)
Still Melting: How Climate Change and Subsistence Laws Constrain Alaska Native Village Adaptation

handle is hein.journals/colenvlp30 and id is 269 raw text is: 







        Still Melting: How Climate

     Change and Subsistence Laws

   Constrain Alaska Native Village

                       Adaptation




                   E. Barrett Ristroph*


     Subsistence hunting and fishing practices are essential to maintain the
physical, economic, and cultural continuity of Alaska Native Villages
(ANVs). The combination of rapid climate change, laws that restrict hunt-
ing andfishing, and systems for participating in decision-making about hunt-
ing and fishing all limit the ways in which ANV residents can legally adapt
their subsistence practices to fluctuations in species populations and loca-
tion. This Article outlines impacts to subsistence experienced by ANTV resi-
dents, legal and institutional constraints to adaptation, and recommenda-
tions for change. A key finding is that subsistence-oriented adaptation takes
place more often at an individual or household level, rather than at a com-
munity level. This is significant because the subsistence lifeway involves ex-
change with people in and beyond the community, even though the acts of
hunting andfishing may be at the individual and household level. At the com-
munity level, ANVs are hindered by their lack ofjurisdiction overfish and
game and the challenges ofparticipating in state and federal decision-mak-
ing. Short of legal change, agencies could increase ANV participation by
spending more time in ANTs and making efforts to increase involvement and
employment ofANV citizens. ANy governments could improve food security
by subsidizing and seeking funding to support subsistence, food storage, and
other forms offood production.



*Ristroph Law, Planning, and Research in Fairbanks, Alaska. I appreciate edits to an earlier
draft from Professor Makena Coffnan, Department of Urban Planning, University of Ha-
waii at Manoa. This work was made possible by a grant from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sectoral Applications Research Program
(NA160AR4310122). The funder had no role in research design, data collection and anal-
ysis, writing this article, or in submitting the article for publication.

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