Progress 06/15/20 to 06/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:During the grant period of performance, this research project engaged three target audiences: (1) Tribal nations (Tribal governments and enrolled membership) in the western Great Basin through eight different nations, (2) livestock ranchers in Carson River and Walker River watersheds of California and Nevada, (3) and federal land agency staff at the district/field, supervisor, and regional office levels in Mono County and Inyo County, California, Washoe County and Douglas County, Nevada, and Weber County, Utah. Tribal nations were engaged through one-on-one meetings, attendance at cultural events, Bi-State Tribal Natural Resource Committee meetings, the Bi-State Traditional Ecological Knowledge Summit, and various Tribal and agency-led field trips throughout the project area. The PD engaged Tribal nations and community members on issues related to environmental and climate change, cultural resource management, traditional foods, and social identity. Livestock ranchers were engaged through one-on-one meetings and other stakeholder meetings on issues related to environmental change, federal policies for livestock grazing, market conditions for livestock production, and social identity. Federal land managers were engaged through one-on-one meetings, agency-led field trips, and other meeting fora where staff were present including federal-Tribal consultation meetings and field trips. Agency staff were engaged on environmental governance and planning, climate and environmental change impacts on public lands, and engagement with Tribal nations. Target audiences were engaged during the reporting period through various means including meetings (in person, video conferencing and telephone), focus groups, workshops, interviews, and field trips. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided extensive opportunities for the PD's training and professional development as a social scientist. It facilitated extensive field-based social research, sharing of research results at conferences and workshops, development of ethnographic research skills, and networking with policymakers in California and Nevada. Most importantly, the fellowship supported the PD's completion of a doctoral program and preparation for a postdoctoral research position. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research results have been shared with target audiences through oral presentations and sharing of written studies resulting from the project. The PD used their personal network and regular fieldwork in the project area to hold meetings, present results, and distribute written results with interlocutors,groups involved in the project, and policymakers with purview over land stewardship in the project area. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: This objective was achieved during the period of performance through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structured and life history interviews, and completing archival research. Research results demonstrated that pine nut collecting is not a major household economic activity in the project area, but forms a critically important cultural practice that sustains Indigenous sociocultural identities. These products are mostly exchanged through gift networks rather than as a market commodity and many Indigenous residents remain opposed to commercial pine nut production on federal lands due to the perception commercial contractors damage trees and endanger future nut production through lack of proper care for the trees. Recent drought years and increased wildfire activity have led to extremely limited options for pine nut picking due to widespread forest mortality in the project area and a landscape-scale decline in nut production, undermining socio-cultural identities tied to this critical traditional food and practices of both collecting it and caring for the plants that provide it. Objective 2: This objective was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structured and life history interviews, and conducting archival research. Results demonstratethat wildfires are limiting opportunities for the maintenance and collecting of traditional foods because of their large-scaleand increasing frequency across the landscape. Furthermore, invasive species are often replacing important traditional plant resources and initiating a fire cycle that precludes their reestablishment. Federal environmental restoration is not currently focused on several culturally important plants (including pinus monophylla)and represents a missed opportunity to better serve Indigenous communities. But innovative restoration activities by Tribal Nations on their own lands are generating valuable knowledge about best practices for restoring pinyon pine forests and other associated plant species important to Indigenous communities. Objective 3: This was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structured and life history interviews, and conducting archival research. Study results demonstratethat multi-generational family ranching operations are being affected by widespread drought, raising operating costs and lower production. Lack of interest in ranching among younger family members is causing challenges with identifying a new generation to take over family operations. Some ranching operations are focused on developing diversified income sources through tourism and other means to offset declines in revenue. Innovative approaches to ranching using regenerative agriculture also offer a possible path forward for creating more sustainable operations that are resilient to environmental change. Conservation easements are an important means for protecting both open space and working landscapes that livestock ranchers are largely supportive of and are being used regularly in the project area. Objective 4: This was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structured and life history interviews, and conducting archival research. Study results demonstrate that environmental change is undermining important Indigenous cultural practices linked to community health and well-being. It is also causing increasing economic instability for ranching operations and the continuity of this activity across generations in the area. There are important differences in the economic orientation of these two groups -- with ranchers evincing a stronger economic orientation to their practices, while many Indigenous cultural practices are conducted with more limited influence from the market economy since most activities are tied to public lands and based on gift-based and non-monetary forms of stewardship. Objective 5: This was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structured and life history interviews, and completing archival research. Pinyon pine forests are decreasing in extent due to large-scale wildfires and drought-induced mortality, reducing opportunities for traditional food access. This is partly driven by cheatgrass spread in these ecosystems. Sage grouse are also declining due to cheatgrass and other impacts leading to decreases in habitat, including the impact of drought, leading to a focus on conifer removal projects that further limit access to traditional foods despite limited evidence of efficacy in the study area. Cheatgrass is expanding with large-scale wildfires, introducing a new fire cycle that impacts forest and shrub cover. Cattle grazing is generally stable to slightly declining. Drought conditions lead to a slight decline in herd sizes overall. Drought is negatively impacting forage, along with wildfire impacts, but authorized use on public lands is generally not responsive to drought conditions. Objective 6: This was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structured and life history interviews, and completing archival research. Study results demonstratethat novel ecosystems are challenging prevailing management paradigms. There is little evidence of effective methods for controlling cheatgrass expansion. Pinyon pine is seeing major declines due to wildfires, but there is little emphasis on restoration of these lands by federal agencies -- instead Tribal nations are leading on this front. The small area of Tribal lands in the region makes this difficult and raises the need for closer collaboration between agencies and Tribes to prioritize culturally important species for protection and restoration. Tensions between livestock grazing and the protection of sensitive species like bighorn sheep and sage grouse are causing conflict between agencies and livestock ranchers. Current emphasis is on clearly management prioritization by area, leading to declines in grazing activity on public lands where sensitive species are commonly present. Objective 7: This was achieved through life history interviews and the analysis of archival documents. Study results demonstrate thatmanagement emphasis has shifted away from economic activity such as timber cutting and grazing over time toward environmental restoration and outdoor recreation. But this has been an uneven shift as grazing is still and important economic activity that often conflicts with other land uses and user groups. There is almost no timber activity in the area today. Grazing is still present throughout the area, but the authorized use has declined over time as shown by the grazing history dataset created by the project,as land managers have reevaluated expectations for grazing impacts and forage use. Tourism was always a major land use and continues to be prioritized through infrastructure projects such as road maintenance, trails, and campgrounds. This is a mainstay of the local economy and environmental change threatens livelihoods as was made apparent in the 2021 Tamarack Fire in Alpine and Douglas Counties, leading to closures and a significant drop in tourism.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Zhang, Y., West, P., Thakoli, L., Suryawanshi, K., Supuma, M., Straub, D., Sithole, S., Sharma, R., Schleicher, J., Ruli, B., Rodriguez-Rodriguez, D., Rasmussen, M.B., Ramenzoni, V., Qin, S., Pugley, D.D., Palfrey, R., Oldekop, J., Nuesiri, E.O., Nguyen, V., Ndam, N. ... [Burow, P.]
... Agyei, F.K. Governance and Conservation Effectiveness in Protected Areas and Indigenous and Locally Managed Areas Annual Review of Environment & Resources 48 (2023). DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-081348
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Johnson, A., C. Hebdon, Paul Burow, D. Chatti, and M.R. Dove. 2022. The Anthropocene. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Mark Aldenderfer, ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.295
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Revitalizing Pine Nut Nation: Environmental Change and Indigenous Stewardship of Pinyon Pine Woodlands in the Great Basin. Panel: Community Based Conservation and Land Management. Society of Ethnobiology and Society for Ethnobotany Joint Meeting, Atlanta, GA, June 5, 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
"Fear and Trembling on the Playa: An Unnatural History of Pleistocene Lakebeds in the Great Basin. Panel: Geomorphologies for Living with a Changing Planet: Perspectives and Interrogations. Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Seattle, WA, November 10, 2022.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
McConnell, K., J.T. Mueller, A. A. Merdjanoff, Paul Burow, and J. Farrell. 2023. Informal modes of social support among residents of the rural American West during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rural Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12507
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Nut Pine and the Art of Flourishing in the Anthropocene Yale Plant Humanities Symposium, Program in Environmental Humanities, Yale University, April 8, 2023
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Mueller, J.T., A.A. Merdjanoff, K. McConnell, Paul Burow, and J. Farrell. 2022. Elevated serious psychological distress, economic disruption, and the COVID-19 pandemic in the nonmetropolitan American West. Preventive Medicine, 115(2): e106919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106919
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Progress 06/15/21 to 06/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:During the reporting period, this research project engaged three target audiences: (1) Tribal nations (Tribal governments and enrolled membership) in the western Great Basin, (2) livestock ranchers in upper Walker River watershed of California and Nevada, (3) and federal land agency staff at the district/field, supervisor, and regional office levels in Mono County and Inyo County, California, Washoe County and Douglas County, Nevada, and Weber County, Utah. Tribal nations were engaged through one-on-one meetings, attendance at cultural events, Bi-State Tribal Natural Resource Committee meetings, the Bi-State Traditional Ecological Knowledge Summit, and various Tribal and agency-led field trips. The PD engaged Tribal nations and community members on issues related to environmental and climate change, cultural resource management, traditional foods, and social identity. Livestock ranchers were engaged through one-on-one meetings on issues related to environmental change, federal policies for livestock grazing, market conditions for livestock production, and social identity. Federal land managers were engaged through one-on-one meetings, agency-led field trips, and other meeting fora where present. Agency staff were engaged on environmental governance and planning, climate and environmental change impacts on public lands, and engagement with Tribal nations. Target audiences were engaged during the reporting period through various means including meetings (in person, video conferencing and telephone), focus groups, workshops, interviews, and field trips. Changes/Problems:The Covid-19 pandemic posed a major challenge to the timing and sequence of the PD's field research during the previous reporting period. Because of the health risks posed by in-person contact for the PD and research participants during the early phase of the pandemic, it was not possible to conduct in-person field research nor conduct indoor archival research during portions of the previous reporting period. Improved conditions during the current reporting period allowed intensive fieldwork to resume, but on a delayed schedule. But the Covid-19 pandemic continued to have lingering effects on research progress by delaying the completion of some research activities such as the household survey and selected archival visits for facilities closed again in 2021-22. Additional data collection remains to be completed in summer 2022. The PD will then shift to data analysis and write-up of results. The household survey has not yet been fielded due to pandemic-related issues with achieving acceptable response rates and challenges with hiring field assistants to complete the effort. Currently, the household survey is expected to be fielded in fall 2023 if these issues are resolved. Delays in data collection will push some data analysis activities to the next reporting period. Currently, there have been no changes in overall project objectives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the reporting period, the PD continued to receive training and professional development through sustained mentorship by the Primary Mentor. This was achieved through weekly meetings, videoconference calls, and email communication. Additionally, there was engagement with the PD's other mentors' working groups at the university. Further training and development were provided locally through engagement with the University of Nevada, Reno's Great Basin Landscape Ecology Laboratory and the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station's Maintaining Resilience Dryland Ecosystems program. The PD provided mentoring to research assistants at University of Nevada, Reno and Yale University connected to the rural US west. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
· Objective 1: This objective was achieved during the reporting period through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structure and life history interviews, and completing archival research. Preliminary results suggest that pine nut collecting is not a major household economic activity, instead serving an important cultural role in the exchange of traditional foods outside of the market. There is concern among respondents about the impact of commercial pine nut picking in the region, which is reported to not benefit Indigenous communities because permittees are outside the community. Additionally, recent drought years and increased wildfire activity have led to extremely limited options for pine nut picking, undermining socio-cultural identities tied to this critical traditional food. · Objective 2: This objective was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structure and life history interviews, and conducting archival research. Preliminary results suggest that wildfires are limiting opportunities for traditional foods because of their large-scales and increasing frequency. Furthermore, invasive species are often replacing important traditional plant resources and initiating a fire cycle that precludes their reestablishment. Federal environmental restoration is not currently focused on culturally important plants and represents a missed opportunity to better serve Indigenous communities. But innovative restoration activities by Tribal Nations on their own lands are generating valuable knowledge about best practices for restoring pinyon pine forests and other associated plant species important to Indigenous communities. · Objective 3: This was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structure and life history interviews, and conducting archival research. Preliminary results suggest that multi-generational family ranching operations are being affected by widespread drought, raising operating costs and lower production. Lack of interest in ranching among younger family members is causing challenges with identifying a new generation to take over family operations. Some ranching operations are focused on developing diversified income sources through tourism and other means to offset declines in revenue. Innovative approaches to ranching using regenerative agriculture also offer a possible path forward for creating more sustainable operations that are resilient to environmental change. · Objective 4: This was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structure and life history interviews, and conducting archival research. Preliminary results suggest that environmental change is undermining important Indigenous cultural practices linked to community health and well-being. It is also causing increasing economic instability for ranching operations and the continuity of this activity across generations in the area. There are important differences in the economic orientation of these two groups -- with ranchers evincing a stronger economic orientation to their practices, while many Indigenous cultural practices are conducted with more limited influence from the market economy since most activities are tied to public lands. · Objective 5: This was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structure and life history interviews, and completing archival research. Pinyon pine forests are decreasing in extent due to large-scale wildfires and drought-induced mortality, reducing opportunities for traditional food access. This is partly driven by cheatgrass spread in these ecosystems. Sage grouse are also declining due to cheatgrass and other impacts leading to decreases in habitat, including the impact of drought, leading to a focus on conifer removal projects that further limit access to traditional foods despite limited evidence of efficacy in the study area. Cheatgrass is expanding with large-scale wildfires, introducing a new fire cycle that impacts forest and shrub cover. Cattle grazing is generally stable to slightly declining. Drought conditions lead to a slight decline in herd sizes overall. Drought is negatively impacting forage, along with wildfire impacts, but authorized use on public lands is largely stable. · Objective 6: This was achieved through attending participant observation events, conducting semi-structure and life history interviews, and completing archival research. Preliminary results suggest that novel ecosystems are challenging prevailing management paradigms. There is little evidence of effective methods for controlling cheatgrass expansion. Pinyon pine is seeing major declines due to wildfires, but there is little emphasis on restoration of these lands by federal agencies -- instead Tribal nations are leading on this front. The small area of Tribal lands in the region makes this difficult and raises the need for closer collaboration between agencies and Tribes to prioritize culturally important species for protection and restoration. Tensions between livestock grazing and the protection of sensitive species like bighorn sheep and sage grouse are causing conflict between agencies and livestock ranchers. Current emphasis is on clearly management prioritization by area, leading to declines in grazing activity on public lands where sensitive species are commonly present. · Objective 7: This was achieved through life history interviews and the analysis of archival documents. Preliminary results suggest management emphasis has shifted away from economic activity such as timber cutting and grazing over time. There is almost no timber activity in the area today. Grazing is still present throughout the area, but the authorized use has declined over time as land managers have reevaluated expectations for grazing impacts and forage use. Tourism was always a major land use and continues to be prioritized through infrastructure projects such as road maintenance, trails, and campgrounds. This is a mainstay of the local economy and environmental change threatens livelihoods as was made apparent in the 2021 Tamarack Fire in Alpine and Douglas Counties, leading to closures and a significant drop in tourism. Management for culturally important species was not a priority previously, but incipient efforts across the region show a renewed interest by federal land managers on this subject. · Objective 8: This was achieved through life history interviews and the analysis of archival documents. Preliminary results suggest Indigenous cultural practices and social identities are undermined by environmental change such as land use activities that reduce culturally important plants, and wildfires that destroy plant communities and facilitate the expansion of species like cheatgrass. Tourism is increasingly an economic revenue source for Indigenous communities who operate businesses that serve visitors, creating vulnerability to changes in visitation. Ranching operations are impacted by wildfire and shifting management priorities that stress sensitive species protection and lower intensity grazing. · Objective 9: This will be addressed in the next reporting period.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Farrell, J., P.B. Burow, K. McConnell, J. Bayham, K.P. Whyte, and G. Koss. 2021. Effects of Land Dispossession and Forced Migration on Indigenous Peoples in North America. Science 374(6567): eabe4943. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe4943
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Mueller, J.T., A. Merdjanoff, K. McConnell, P. Burow, and J. Farrell. 2022. Elevated serious psychological distress, economic disruption, and the COVID-19 pandemic in the nonmetropolitan American West. 2022. Preventive Medicine 155(2): e106919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106919
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Koh, V., P.B. Burow, L. Kanoi, and M.R. Dove. 2021. Locating the Rural in Anthropology. The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology. Lene Pedersen and Lisa Cliggett, eds. pp. 296-310. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publishers. https://www.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-cultural-anthropology/book270178
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Burow, P.B. 2021. Burning Through History in California's 'Asbestos' Forests Hot Spots: Fieldsights Blog. Society for Cultural Anthropology. https://culanth.org/fieldsights/burning-through-history-in-californias-asbestos-forests
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Mueller, J.T., J. Farrell, K. McConnell, and P.B. Burow. 2021. "COVID-19 and Poverty in Rural Areas: The Experience of the United States." Working Paper for Expert Group Meeting on Implementation of the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty. United Nations: Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/2021-meetings/egm-3rd-decade-poverty.html
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
The Moral Ecology of a Forest: Caring for Trees in North Americas Changing Pinyon-
Juniper Woodlands. Oral Presentation. Graduate Spotlight Series, Peabody Museum of Natural
History, Yale University, April 7, 2022. Link: http://paulburow.org/video/moralecology
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Progress 06/15/20 to 06/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:During the reporting period, this research project engaged three target audiences: (1) Tribal nations (Tribal governments and enrolled membership) in the western Great Basin, (2) livestock ranchers in upper Walker River watershed of California and Nevada, (3) and federal land agency staff at the district/field office level in Mono County, California and Lyon County, Nevada. Tribal nations were engaged given the project's focus on the impact of environmental change on Indigenous cultural practices, social identities, and traditional foods. Livestock ranchers were engaged to understand how environmental change is impacting agricultural practices and social identities in the study area. And federal land management agencies are engaged to examine how environmental governance is shaping the response to ecosystem change - especially in relation to Indigenous traditional foods and livestock ranching that are linked to public lands policy in the rural U.S. West. Target audiences were engaged during the reporting period through meetings, workshops, interviews, and field trips. Changes/Problems:The Covid-19 pandemic posed a major challenge to the timing and sequence of the PD's field research during the reporting period. Because of the health risks posed by in-person contact for the PD and research participants during the early phase of the pandemic, it was not possible to conduct in-person field research nor conduct indoor archival research during the initial months of the reporting period. Following Yale University's guidelines on human subject research amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the PD voluntarily paused in-person field research activities during the summer and early fall of 2020 to protect research participants and the PD. This meant the PD was not entering government offices for archival research nor recruiting or conducting interviews in person. Nearly all government offices were closed during this period, making in-person work impossible. Despite this challenge, a significant portion of the research activity was able to be completed remotely and adequate progress was made on research objectives. During the pause of in-person field research, the PD was able to focus on data organization and analysis from previously collected archival and interview material, in additional to collecting digital materials available in various online databases. The PD also invested significant time in assembling spatial data resources. The PD was able to carry out interviews remotely via phone and videoconference during the reporting period. The PD's in-person field research was approved for re-activation in November 2020, which allowed the PD to continue in-person research where it was permitted and under a risk management protocol to protect the health and well-being of the PD and research participants. The pandemic only changed the timing of field research activities and the pace and focus of expenditures. The project approach, methods, and objectives were not impacted. The pandemic decreased the rate of expenditure of research funds due to travel restrictions. Anticipated travel to conferences and regional archives were cancelled given that travel was generally prohibited under university policy. But with research activation, travel resumed on a more limited schedule for field trips, workshops, and in-person interview and participant observation activities. It is anticipated that accelerated future travel activities will make up for a slow pace of expenditure experienced during the reporting period. The research schedule was modified to allow for more flexibility in planning in person activities in future reporting periods. The project's goals, objectives, methods, outcomes, and products remained unchanged. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the reporting period, the PD received training and professional development through sustain mentorship by the Primary Mentor. This was achieved through weekly meetings, videoconference calls, and email communication. Additionally, there was engagement with the PD's other mentors' working groups at the university. Further training and development were provided locally through engagement with the University of Nevada, Reno's Great Basin Landscape Ecology Laboratory and the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station's Maintaining Resilience Dryland Ecosystems program. The PD hired two research assistants at the undergraduate level from the region to participate in research activities including interview recruitment, interviewing (remote and field based), interview transcription and analysis, archival document organization and analysis, and background research. The research assistants were closely mentored through biweekly meetings to develop new professional skills in social scientific research related to food and agriculture in the rural U.S. west. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The major goal of this project is to answer the question: how are rural communities impacted by changing ecosystems on public lands in the US west? The findings will inform policies to improve environmental quality, mitigate the social impacts of ecosystem and agricultural change, and help agricultural communities adapt to a changing natural resource base in rural America. The project seeks to answer this question through social scientific research and engagement with stakeholders, including Tribal nations, livestock ranchers, environmental non-governmental organizations, and federal land management agencies. A discussion of accomplishments by objective are as follows: Objective 1: This was achieved through attending participant observation events and conducting semi-structured interviews (n=20). Preliminary results suggest that pine nut collecting is not a major economic activity for Paiute people. Pine nut picking is an essential cultural practice and is closely tied to Indigenous sociocultural identities. Objective 2: This was achieved through attending participant observation events and conducting semi-structured interviews (n=20). Preliminary results suggest that federal land policies variably impact the ability of Indigenous communities to collect pine nuts. Loss of trees to wildfire and the removal of trees for habitat restoration projects negatively impacts the ability of Native communities to engage in important cultural practices. Federal policies on traditional gathering positively impact cultural practices by enabling communities to conduct cultural activities on federal lands without needing agency permission. Ranching has variable impact on Indigenous cultural practices on public lands. Some culturally important plants are negatively impacted by the disturbance of grazing practices. Pine nut picking is not significantly impacted by grazing on public lands. Objective 3: This was achieved through attending participant observation events and conducting semi-structured interviews (n=20). Preliminary results suggest that climate change is negatively impacting ranchers by limiting herd size and complicating seasonal rotations on/off public lands as authorized grazing decreases under extreme drought conditions. Perturbation in herd size and range access threatens the economic viability of ranching operations, particularly smaller family operations that are not diversified into other industries. This threatens the cultural practices and social continuity of ranching as a livelihood and way of life in the rural west. Objective 4: No activities or preliminary results. This will be a focus of data collection in the next reporting period. Objective 5: This was achieved through attending participant observation events and conducting semi-structured interviews (n=20). Preliminary results suggest that novel ecosystems impact environmental management because they reveal limitations of knowledge derived from baseline conditions and processes that do not describe contemporary conditions. Similarly, for Indigenous knowledge, novel conditions challenge the efficacy of traditional practices and suggest the need for an adaptive and hybrid system of Indigenous and western scientific knowledge to address pressing land management problems. Objective 6: No activities or preliminary results. This will be a focus of data collection in the next reporting period. Objective 7: No activities or preliminary results. This will be a focus of data collection in the next reporting period. Objective 8: No activities or preliminary results. This will be a focus of data collection in the next reporting period. Objective 9: No activities or preliminary results. This will be a focus of data collection in the next reporting period. Research sites are linked to specific periods of time and each period entrails targets for research activities conducted. The PD will met following quantitative targets to answer the key research questions and address a majority of the research objectives: (1) engaged in participant observation through 30 events, (2) conducted 50 interviews, and (3) spent 10 days examining historical archives.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Burow, P.B. 2020. Natures Belonging: Landscape, Conservation, and the Cultural Politics of Place in the Great Basin. In Public Lands in the Western US: Place and Politics in the Clash between Public and Private, K. Sullivan and J. McDonald, eds. pp. 175-197. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Mueller, J.T., K. McConnell, P.B. Burow, K. Pofahl, A.A. Merdjanoff, and J. Farrell. 2021. Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Rural America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118: e2019378118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2019378118
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Novel Ecosystems and the Cultural Politics of Environmental Change. Presentation to: Confluence Research Seminar, Yale School of the Environment, April 1, 2021.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Whither the Sage Grouse? Belonging and Nonhuman Placemaking on Anthropogenic Landscapes Conference Paper. Panel: Cultivating More than Human Places: Practices of Belonging and Exclusion. EnviroLab Conference - Placing: New Engagements with the Environment, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, March 20, 2021.
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