Symposium will explore fish and wildlife comanagement

November 3, 2015

An academic forum on cooperative management of fish and wildlife will bring together state and federal authorities, tribal representatives, Alaska Native leaders and university officials this month.

The Co-Management Symposium will run from 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Nov. 18–19 in the Wood Center ballroom at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Producing Knowledge Together, a forum to encourage research partnerships between UAF and rural communities, will follow on Nov. 20 from 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.

The symposium is hosted by UAF's College of Rural and Community Development and its Interior Alaska Campus, the Alaska Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and the Oak Foundation.

“We are pleased to host diverse stakeholders on a critical topic that impacts the livelihoods and cultures of many Alaskans,” said Evon Peter, vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education at UAF. “The symposium will build understanding and relationships among Alaska Native, state and federal officials, and provide opportunities for our students to learn about current issues facing Alaska. We will provide a unique academic arena for stakeholders to have meaningful conversations about cooperative models of fish and wildlife resource management.”

Keynote speakers will be Jamie Pinkham and Jerry Isaac.

Pinkham, of Nez Perce ancestry, is the vice president of the Bush Foundation, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, and leads the foundation's Native Nations program. He has decades of experience advocating for tribal sovereignty, self-determination and treaty rights. He directed the congressional affairs and regional coordination efforts for Native American traditional hunting and fishing rights. Pinkham was elected twice to the governing body of the Nez Pierce Tribe and led their natural resource programs, where he was involved in salmon restoration, water rights negotiations, wolf recovery and land acquisition.

Isaac is an Athabascan from Tanacross. He is the Alaska Federation of Natives' co-chairman and previously served as Tanana Chiefs Conference's president. Isaac, in addition to his work for AFN, advocates for Alaska Native tribes and individual Indians in his capacity as the Alaska area vice president of the National Congress of American Indians.

The symposium features panels of UAF professors, tribal leaders, tribal elders, state and federal fish and wildlife managers, and Alaska Native corporation and nonprofit leaders. Topics include Alaska fish and wildlife management history and policy, cross-cultural communication, marine mammals and migratory birds, and current and developing projects in comanagement. Small group work sessions will build solutions together.

On Nov. 20, the Producing Knowledge Together conference will addresses community-based research projects. Panels will offer perspectives on developing research partnerships, including finding common research questions, collaborating on data management and reporting results.

Symposium participants can earn one academic credit from UAF's tribal management program. For more about the program, visit http://tribalmgmt.uaf.edu/. For more about the UAF College of Rural and Community Development and its more than 40 degree and certificate programs, visit www.uaf.edu/rural/ or call 907-474-7143 or 866-478-2721.