The project plans to conduct a combined symposium-workshop as part of the annual meeting of Arctic Division, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Anchorage, Alaska, September 23-26, 1987. The subject of the symposium-workshop relates to the needs and opportunities for long-term research and monitoring on the federally reserved and managed lands in northwestern Alaska. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA, P.L. 96-487) established extensive tracts of federally-reserved lands, large areas of which are considered to be in the Arctic as defined by the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (ARPA, P.L. 98-373). The existence of these federally administrated lands offer the opportunity to collectively plan and conduct research related to the assessment and understanding of global change and resource utilization and conservation, and to provide educational and training opportunities for and involvement of local residents. The meetings will involve invited participants representing agencies, universities, residents, private and public interest groups, and draw upon the participants at this AAAS Conference. Topics to be discussed include the physical and biological environments, approaches to environmental monitoring and views of research from local, public, and agencies perspectives. A publication synthesizing the results of both the symposium presentations and discussions and workshop analyses will result. This project is directly related to the planning and implementation phases of the Arctic Research and Policy Act, and particularly on questions of resource utilization and development and the use of the Arctic as a natural laboratory.
