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Susitna‐Watana Hydroelectric Project Document
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Title:
Subsistence resources, Study plan Section 14.5, 2014 Study
Implementation Report SuWa 289
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Corvus Culture
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November 2015; Study Completion and 2014/2015 Implementation Reports
AEA‐identified series, if specified:
Series (ARLIS‐assigned report number):
Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project document number 289
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[Anchorage : Alaska Energy Authority, 2015]
Date published:
November 2015
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Alaska Energy Authority
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Study plan Section 14.5
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ii, 9 pages
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Notes:
All reports in the Susitna‐Watana Hydroelectric Project Document series include an ARLIS‐
produced cover page and an ARLIS‐assigned number for uniformity and citability. All reports
are posted online at http://www.arlis.org/resources/susitna‐watana/
Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project
(FERC No. 14241)
Subsistence Resources
Study Plan Section 14.5
2014 Study Implementation Report
Prepared for
Alaska Energy Authority
Prepared by
Corvus Culture
November 2015
2014 STUDY IMPLEMENTATION REPORT SUBSISTENCE RESOURCES STUDY (14.5)
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FERC Project No. 14241 Page i November 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1
2. Study Objectives................................................................................................................ 1
3. Study Area ......................................................................................................................... 2
4. Methods and Variances in 2014 ....................................................................................... 3
4.1. Task 1: Compilation of Existing Data .................................................................... 3
4.1.1. Variances ......................................................................................... 3
4.2. Task 2: Household Harvest Surveys ....................................................................... 3
4.2.1. Variances ......................................................................................... 4
4.3. Task 3: Household Harvest Surveys in State-Designated Nonsubsistence Areas .. 4
4.3.1. Variances ......................................................................................... 4
4.4. Task 4: Subsistence Mapping Interviews ............................................................... 4
4.4.1. Variances ......................................................................................... 4
4.5. Task 5: Traditional and Local Knowledge Interviews ............................................ 4
4.5.1. Variances ......................................................................................... 5
5. Results ................................................................................................................................ 5
5.1. Compilation of Existing Subsistence Data ............................................................. 5
5.2. Household Harvest Surveys .................................................................................... 5
5.3. Household Harvest Surveys in Non-Subsistence Areas ......................................... 5
5.4. Traditional Knowledge Workshops ........................................................................ 5
6. Discussion........................................................................................................................... 6
7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 6
8. Literature Cited ................................................................................................................ 6
9. Tables ................................................................................................................................. 8
LIST OF TABLES
Table 14.5.9-1. Sample Achievement for Household Harvest Surveys for Communities Studied
in 2014. ........................................................................................................................................... 9
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LIST OF ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND DEFINITIONS
Abbreviation Definition
ADF&G Alaska Department of Fish and Game
AEA Alaska Energy Authority
ANILCA Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
CSIS Community Subsistence Information System
FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
ILP Integrated Licensing Process
ISR Interim Study Report
RSP Revised Study Plan
SPD StudyPlan Determination
TP Technical Paper
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1. INTRODUCTION
This Study Implementation Report, Section 14.5 of the Revised Study Plan (RSP) approved by the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project,
FERC Project No. 14241 focuses on documenting the extent to which communities harvest and
use subsistence resources within or near the Project area, use Project area lands to access other
lands for subsistence harvest and use, and/or harvest and use resources that migrate through the
Project area and are later harvested in other areas. A summary of the development of this study,
together with the Alaska Energy Authority’s (AEA) implementation of it through the 2013 study
season, appears in Part A, Section 1 of the Initial Study Report (ISR) filed with FERC in June
2014. As required under FERC’s regulations for the Integrated Licensing Process (ILP), the ISR
describes AEA’s “overall progress in implementing the study plan and schedule and the data
collected, including an explanation of any variance from the study plan and schedule.” (18 CFR
5.15(c)(1)).
Since filing the ISR in June 2014, AEA has continued to implement the FERC-approved plan for
the Subsistence Resources Study. For example the study team conducted the following activities:
Participated in the July 21 2014 Cook Inlet Regional Working Group meeting
Participated in the October 22, 2014 ISR meetings related to the June 2014 Subsistence
Resources ISR
Completed community baseline household harvest surveys for Tyonek, Glennallen,
Copperville, Gulkana, Lake Louise, Paxson, Tazlina, Tonsina, Mendeltna, Nelchina, and
Tolsona
In furtherance of the next round of ISR meetings and FERC’s Study Plan Determination (SPD)
expected in 2016, this report describes AEA’s overall progress in implementing the Subsistence
Resources Study during calendar year 2014. Rather than a comprehensive reporting of all field
work, data collection and data analysis since the beginning of AEA’s study program, this report is
intended to supplement and update the information presented in Part A of the ISR for the
Subsistence Resources Study through the end of calendar year 2014. It describes the methods and
results of the 2014 effort, and includes a discussion of the results achieved.
2. STUDY OBJECTIVES
The study objectives are established in RSP Section 14.5.1. As described in the Study Plan, the
overall goal of this study is to demonstrate whether and, if so, the extent to which communities
harvest and use subsistence resources within or near the Project area, use Project area lands to
access other lands for subsistence harvest and use, and/or harvest and use resources that migrate
through the Project area and are later harvested in other areas.
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The objectives of the Subsistence Resources Study are as follows:
1. Document whether and, if so, the extent to which communities within the Susitna River
watershed, as well as communities outside the Susitna River watershed that have
subsistence use areas in the watershed, use areas that are within the Project area for
subsistence harvests.
2. Document whether and, if so, the extent to which communities within the Susitna River
watershed, as well as communities outside the Susitna River watershed that have
subsistence use areas in the watershed, use Project area lands to access other lands or waters
for subsistence harvest.
3. Document whether and, if so, the extent to which communities within the Susitna River
watershed, as well as communities outside the Susitna River watershed that have
subsistence use areas in the watershed, use resources that migrate through the Project area
and are harvested in other areas.
4. Collect and document traditional and local knowledge of communities within the Susitna
River watershed, or who have subsistence use areas within the watershed, to assist in
assessing the potential impacts of construction and operation of the proposed Project on
subsistence harvest and use. This information will be directly shared with the program
leads for other resources, as appropriate.
5. Evaluate Project development plans to identify likely sources of potential impacts on
identified subsistence uses.
6. Provide the necessary information needed to support preparation of an Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) 810 evaluation.
Through a combination of household harvest surveys, mapping interviews, and traditional and
local knowledge interviews, the Subsistence Resources Study is collecting baseline data and
documenting traditional and contemporary subsistence harvest and use to facilitate the assessment
of potential impacts of the Project construction and operation on subsistence harvest and use. The
data developed through this study will be evaluated along with data from biological and wildlife
and cultural resources studies to supplement the subsistence information and put it into context
with other related resource conditions.
3. STUDY AREA
As established by RSP Section 14.5.3, the study area includes the Project area, as well as locations
within the Susitna River watershed where the proposed Project could affect natural resources and
access conditions upstream and downstream of the Susitna River as well as its associated
tributaries. The study area includes the proposed reservoir, road and transmission corridors
(including a portion of one corridor adjacent to the Denali Highway that extends outside the
watershed), and other Project facility sites.
As explained in the RSP (Section 14.5.3), the study team developed a list of study communities in
order to adequately address potential impacts to subsistence users who use the study area for
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subsistence activities. This included communities that are located outside the study area but have
documented use within the study area. AEA developed the following criteria for inclusion as a
study community:
1. The community is located within the Susitna River watershed
2. The community is located outside of the Susitna River watershed but has previously
documented subsistence use areas that extend into the watershed; or
3. The community is one of the communities preliminarily identified by Alaska Department
of Fish and Game (ADF&G) as needing updated harvest information
Based on the above criteria, AEA identified 37 study communities whose subsistence uses could
potentially be affected by the proposed Project (See Table 3-1 in ISR Section 14.5.3 filed June
2014).
4. METHODS AND VARIANCES IN 2014
As described in RSP Section 14.5.4, the Study Plan proposed to complete the following tasks:
1. Compilation of Existing Subsistence Data
2. Household Harvest Surveys
3. Household Surveys in State-Designated Nonsubsistence Areas
4. Subsistence Mapping Interviews
5. Traditional and Local Knowledge Interviews
In 2014, the study team continued to implement methods described in the Study Plan (Section
14.5.4 of the RSP); the following section summarizes the details of the tasks performed, the
methods used, and any variances from the methods previously described in the Study Plan.
4.1. Task 1: Compilation of Existing Data
The methods used to compile existing data were previously discussed in the ISR Section 14.5.4,
filed in June 2014.
4.1.1. Variances
No additional work on this task was done in 2014, thus variances from the existing data
compilation methods described in the Study Plan (RSP Section 14.5.4) were unnecessary in 2014.
4.2. Task 2: Household Harvest Surveys
AEA implemented the methods as described in the Study Plan for conducting household harvest
surveys (Section 14.5.4 of the RSP) with no variances. The ADF&G Division of Subsistence
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conducted household harvest surveys in 10 of the 37 study communities in 2014: Tyonek,
Glenallen, Gulkana, Lake Louise, Paxson, Tazlina, Tonsina, Mendeltna, Nelchina, and Tolsona.
The harvest survey documented one year (2013) of subsistence harvest and use by households in
and around the study communities. In addition, the surveys included a “one-year mapping”
component that documented each study community’s subsistence use areas for the previous year
and also included a key respondent traditional knowledge interview component. A detailed
description of the methods used to implement the household harvest surveys in nine of these
communities is available in ADF&G’s Technical Paper (TP) The Harvest and Use of Wild
Resources in Selected Communities of the Copper River Basin and East Glenn Highway, Alaska,
2013 (Holen, Hazell and Zimpelman 2015); detailed descriptions of the methods used in the
community of Tyonek are available in ADFG&G’s TP The Harvest and Use of Wild Resources in
Tyonek, Alaska, 2013 (Jones, Holen and Koster 2015).
4.2.1. Variances
No variances from the household harvest survey methods described in the Study Plan (RSP Section
14.5.4) were necessary in 2014.
4.3. Task 3: Household Harvest Surveys in State-Designated
Nonsubsistence Areas
The methods used to conduct household harvest surveys in state-designated nonsubsistence areas
were previously discussed in the ISR Section 14.5.4, filed in June 2014. A detailed description of
the methods used to generate the sample and implement the household harvest surveys is available
in ADF&G’s TP The Harvest and Use of Wild Resources in Cantwell, Chase, Talkeetna, Trapper
Creek, Alexander/Susitna, and Skwentna, Alaska, 2012 (Holen et al 2014).
4.3.1. Variances
No additional work was performed in 2014, thus no variances from this task occurred in 2014.
4.4. Task 4: Subsistence Mapping Interviews
This task has not yet been implemented.
4.4.1. Variances
No work has been performed on this task and no variances to methods have been identified.
4.5. Task 5: Traditional and Local Knowledge Interviews
The methods used to conduct traditional and local knowledge interviews were previously
discussed in the ISR Section 14.5.4, filed in June 2014.
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4.5.1. Variances
No additional work was performed on the traditional and local knowledge interviews in 2014, thus
no variances for this task beyond those discussed in the ISR Section 14.5.4 filed in June 2014
occurred.
5. RESULTS
5.1. Compilation of Existing Subsistence Data
No additional work was performed on this task in 2014. The results of the compilation of existing
subsistence data are discussed in Section 14.5.5 of the ISR.
5.2. Household Harvest Surveys
The ADF&G Division of Subsistence completed household harvest surveys in the communities of
Glenallen, Gulkana, Lake Louise, Paxson, Tazlina, Tonsina, Mendeltna, Nelchina, Tolsona and
Tyonek in January-April 2014. Table 14.5.9-1 identifies household participation and response
rates for each community. ADF&G has published complete results of the household harvest
surveys in their technical paper series: The Harvest and Use of Wild Resources in Selected
Communities of the Copper River Basin and East Glenn Highway, Alaska 2013 (Holen, Hazell
and Zimpelman 2015) and The Harvest and Use of Wild Resources in Tyonek, Alaska, 2013 (Jones,
Holen and Koster 2015); and updated harvest data available in the Community Subsistence
Information System (CSIS). ADF&G also published results for household harvest surveys in the
communities of McCarthy, Chitina, Kenny Lake, and Gakona in Subsistence Harvests and Uses
of Wild Resources in Kenny Lake/Willow Creek, Gakona, McCarthy, and Chitina, Alaska, 2012
(La Vine and Zimpelman 2014); and yhe communities of Cantwell, Chase, Talkeetna, Trapper
Creek, Alexander/Susitna and Skwentna in The Harvest and Use of Wild Resources in Cantwell,
Chase, Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, Alexander/Susitna, and Skwentna, Alaska, 2012 (Holen et. al.
2014); and updated harvest data in the CSIS for these communities as well.
5.3. Household Harvest Surveys in Non-Subsistence Areas
Preliminary results from this task were discussed in Section 14.5.5 of the ISR filed in June 2014;
no additional data collection was performed for this task in 2014. Complete results from the
Household Harvest Surveys in Non-Subsistence Areas (Talkeetna and Trapper Creek) have since
been published in the ADF&G TP The Harvest and Use of Wild Resources in Cantwell, Chase,
Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, Alexander/Susitna, and Skwentna, Alaska, 2012 (Holen et. al. 2014),
and updated in the CSIS.
5.4. Traditional Knowledge Workshops
Preliminary results from the Traditional Knowledge Workshops were discussed in Section 14.5.5
of the ISR filed in June 2014. Full results will be incorporated into a technical memorandum and
filed with FERC upon completion of the two outstanding workshops.
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6. DISCUSSION
AEA has completed all household harvest surveys and the existing data compilation for the study,
as well as the majority of identified traditional and local knowledge interviews. Overall, the
Subsistence Resources Study is progressing as planned. With the publication of household harvest
survey results, household harvest and data compilation results can be shared among all studies,
and continue to facilitate data integration among all related and applicable resource studies, as
identified in the ISR interrelatedness diagram in the Study Plan.
As discussed in the ISR filed in June 2014, subsistence harvest and use research was not a main
component of the data collected for the project between 1979 and 1985, and little baseline data
regarding subsistence activities has been reported for the project area since that time. With the
completion of household harvest surveys in subsistence and state non-subsistence areas, as well as
the completion of traditional and local knowledge interviews in seven of the nine proposed
communities, a robust baseline data set has been collected and documented. It is important to note
that household harvest surveys only present data for one year in time, however accompanying key
respondent interviews coupled with traditional and local knowledge interviews augment single
year data with observations and insight regarding longer term patterns and trends in subsistence
harvest and use, fish, wildlife and other subsistence resource population lifecycles and movements,
and environmental factors. The planned subsistence mapping study will provide further
longitudinal data regarding such trends and patterns, and together these studies will create a
comprehensive data set that will successfully meet study objectives for the FERC-approved
Subsistence Resources Study Plan.
7. CONCLUSION
Existing Data Compilation and Household Harvest Survey tasks are now complete, and the
majority of traditional and local knowledge interviews have also been completed. Results from
these tasks are reported in the ISR filed in June 2014, ADF&G-authored TPs (Holen et. al. 2014;
Jones, Holen and Koster 2015; Holen, Hazell and Zimpelman 2015; La Vine and Zimpelman 2014)
and the ADF&G Technical Memorandums referenced above. Remaining tasks to be completed are
the subsistence mapping study and traditional and local knowledge interviews with the Knik Tribal
Council and Chickaloon Village Traditional Council. Together, results from these tasks will
provide the robust and comprehensive baseline data set needed to assess Project impacts to
subsistence as well as meet agency obligations under Title VIII of ANILCA and State and Federal
needs regarding subsistence resource management.
8. LITERATURE CITED
ADF&G (Alaska Department of Fish and Game). 2015. Community Subsistence Information
System. Available online at
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sb/CSIS/index.cfm?ADFG=main.home. Accessed October
2015.
2014 STUDY IMPLEMENTATION REPORT SUBSISTENCE RESOURCES STUDY (14.5)
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Holen, Davin, Sarah M. Hazell, James M. Van Lanen, Joshua T. Ream, Sean P.A. Dejardins,
Bronwyn Jones, and Garrett Zimpelman. 2014. The Harvest and Use of Wild Resources
in Cantwell, Chase, Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, Alexander/Susitna, and Skwentna, Alaska,
2012. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper
No. 385. Juneau, Alaska.
Holen, Davin, Sarah M. Hazell and Garrett Zimpelman (eds.). 2015. The Harvest and Use of
Wild Resources in Selected Communities of the Copper River Basin and East Glenn
Highway, Alaska, 2013. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence
Technical Paper No. 405. Juneau, Alaska.
Jones, Bronwyn, Davin Holen and David S. Koester. 2015. The Harvest and Use of Wild
Resources in Tyonek, Alaska, 2013. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of
Subsistence Technical Paper No. 404. Juneau, Alaska.
La Vine, Robbin and Garrett Zimpelman. 2014. Subsistence Harvests and Uses of Wild
Resources in Kenny Lake/Willow Creek, Gakona, McCarthy, and Chitina, Alaska, 2012.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper No. 394.
Juneau, Alaska.
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9. TABLES
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Table 14.5.9-1. Sample Achievement for Household Harvest Surveys for Communities Studied in 2014.
Sample Information Tyonek Glenallen Gulkana Lake Louise Paxson Tazlina Tonsina Mendeltna Nelchina Tolsona
Interview Goal 63 112 35 23 11 137 46 14 30 14
Households Interviewed 49 77 29 10 8 79 23 10 18 8
Households failed to contact 9 41 3 1 3 27 12 3 9 2
Households declined to be interviewed 5 14 1 3 0 14 4 1 2 2
Households moved or nonresident 0 83 2 9 0 17 7 0 1 2
Total households attempted to interview 54 132 30 13 8 93 27 11 20 10
Refusal rate 9.3%15.4%3.3%23.1%0.0%15.1%14.8%9.1%10.0%20.0%
Final estimate of permanent households 63 140 33 14 11 120 39 14 29 12
Percentage of total households interviewed 77.8%55.0%87.9%71.4%72.7%65.8%59.0%71.4%62.1%66.7%
Interview weighting factor 1.3 1.8 1.1 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.7 1.4 1.6 1.5
Sampled population 111 211 91 19 23 232 53 24 47 16
Estimated population 142.7 383.6 103.6 26.6 31.6 352.4 89.9 33.6 75.7 24
Source ADF&G Division of Subsistence household surveys, 2013 and 2014.
Community