ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on integrated approaches and the role of anthropology in environmental planning. The socioeconomic analysis of the reindeer industry came about as the direct result of legislative proposals related to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The act, also known as Public Law 92-203, provided that a portion of unclassified federal lands in Alaska would be included into the National Park System, National Wildlife Refuge, National Forest, or National Wild and Scenic River Systems. In 1977, fourteen herds could be located on the Seward Peninsula, encompassing approximately 17,800 animals, or about 75% of all the reindeer in Alaska. The major activities of a reindeer herd-owner over the course of a normal year focus on fawning, summer velvet antler sales and slaughtering. Anthropology can help to keep the human element centralized in the planning process. It can help to ellucidate that local environment which is always the first impacted by the process.
