Doctoral Dissertation Resarch: Local Perceptions of Salmon Habitat Restoration: An Ethnographic Study of Science-Based Conservation and Social Conflict in the Pacific Northwest

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

Despite a century of protection efforts, salmon populations have declined 80%, from an order of billions to an order of millions of fish returning annually to Pacific Northwest rivers, resulting in the 1999 "threatened" listing of Chinook and Coho stocks under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In its effort to address ESA regulations and protect its $1.3 billion fishery, Washington State requires salmon habitat restoration plans to be based on "Best Available Science," legally defined as natural scientific data, to the explicit subordination of cultural, historical and political information. This policy reflects the overwhelming reliance on the natural sciences and instrumental analyses in environmental research, management and policy-making. Yet implementing this science-based policy is proving to be far more challenging and controversial than policymakers predicted. This study by a doctoral student in environmental anthropology at the University of Washington will explore the hypothesis that the state's requirement to base protection plans on "Best Available Science" obscures deeper historical, cultural, political and economic divisions that are impeding salmon habitat restoration in the Skagit Valley of northwest Washington. Using a combination of open-ended interviews, participant observation and a survey, the study will aim to understand how diverse groups, including farmers, tribal and non-tribal fishers, environmentalists, scientists and policymakers, perceive the problem of fish protection. The project will attempt to explain the variation in perceptions through evaluating the importance of different senses of place, history, science, and each group's understanding of the others. Broader Impacts: By illuminating the social forces contributing to an environmental problem and controversy, this study aims to model and highlight the need for alternative, locally inclusive and culturally sensitive approaches to environmental research that could lead to more effective and equitable environmental policies. In addition, the research aims to contribute to the resolution of the Skagit controversy by collaboratively exploring the complicated cultural meanings at stake for all people involved in the conflict. Finally, this study will contribute to the education of a doctoral student and the development of the new field of environmental anthropology.