Wetlands and subsistence-based economies in Alaska, U.S.A

Planners, developers, conservationists, and others have tended to view wetland habitats in Alaska as being "unused." In actuality, wetlands provide the foundation for many Alaska Native subsistence-based economies. Social, cultural, economic, and valuative components of Alaska Native societies are integrated within hunting, gathering, fishing, and trapping activities, providing for a dynamic adaptive system focused on the use of local resources in wetlands. This paper provides comparative examples statewide to demonstrate that rural wetlands in Alaska cannot be assumed to be unused. In fact, the uses of wetland habitats and resources by rural Alaskan Natives are subject to serious threat as a result of changing land status over the past few decades.