Behnke, Steve U. of California, Santa Barbara The Nelchina caribou herd in south-central Alaska has been a focus of conflict for over thirty years. While the herd has been closely managed since the early 1970s, biologists disagree about the relative impacts of weather, range, wolves, bear and hunting on herd dynamics. This scientific dispute is exacerbated and complicated by allocation conflict in respect to the subsistence preference of local peoples who rely on wildlife. The research will explore how science, culture, and nature are co-produced in the case of the Nelchina caribou. It examines natural resource management at a site where divergent interpretations and representations of nature and society are negotiated and resolved. Theoretical aspects of cultural geography and the sociology of science are utilized. Data in written and oral form that was presented to the Board of Game during deliberations on regulatory proposals will be gathered and analyzed. Subsequent investigations will seek to understand the background of the representations.
