This dissertation project is a study of the co-management of the Porcupine Caribou Herd in Canada. The focus of the research is on community involvement in co-management decision making and its relationship to the sustainability of human-caribou relations. Shared Native-government authority in resource management is addressed with common property theory and the sociology of organizational democracy. This dissertation will study how the implementation of co-management has changed decision making at the community level, what factors influence community involvement and management outcomes, and how community members evaluate their involvement. Methods for data collection include participant observation, semi-structured interviews and the analysis of community documents.
