COURSE TITLE: The Future of Alaska's Natural Resource Commons

INSTRUCTORS: Gregory G. Brown, Alaska Pacific University

Meade Treadwell, Institute of the North, Alaska Pacific University

MEETING PLACE & TIME: M-TH 1:30-5:00 Grant Hall 324*

*TH Jan. 14, 28 and Feb. 4 meet from 3:00-5:00 in

Carr-Gottstein Room 202 for Hickel discussion series

A. Prerequisite:

Junior standing or consent of instructor.

B. Course Overview:

  "Most of the Arctic, like most of the world, is commonly owned. With ownership comes the obligation to manage our resources for the benefit of the total. To do that, we must understand the reality, the richness, and the responsibility of the North."

Walter J. Hickel

A common-pool resource, in general terms, is a resource that has multiple owners and one or more users who can adversely affect the interests of others. Given the abundance of natural resources in Alaska and their common ownership (about 98 percent of lands are publicly owned or owned by native corporations), the management of Alaska's resources frames virtually all issues of importance to current and future generations of Alaskans.

Respected scholars who have studied common resources observe that neither the state nor the market is uniformly successful in enabling individuals to sustain long-term, productive use of natural resource systems. Historically, communities of individuals have relied on institutions resembling neither the state nor the market to govern some resource systems with reasonable degrees of success over long periods of time. Identifying and understanding the conditions under which common-pool natural resources in Alaska can and should be managed sustainably for the benefit of all is the focus of this course. This will necessarily require an understanding of historical development in Alaska as well as the creative and technological forces that are driving future development of the state.

The course will critically examine the perspectives, politics and issues surrounding the management of Alaska's common pool resources. Building on Garret Hardin's seminal but controversial ideas presented in "Tragedy of the Commons," we will look at how new perspectives are forcing a reconsideration of commons management. Through the course, students should better understand environmental, economic and political factors of using and sustaining common pool resources, with specific Alaskan examples.

The course will utilize selected readings, group projects, field trips, guest speakers, and special discussion sessions with former Alaskan Governor, Walter J. Hickel.

C. Objectives:

1. To become familiar with the theoretical foundations and empirical findings from the wide body of writing on common-pool resource management.

 

2. To understand the role of important social, economic, and political variables that foster or inhibit long-term common pool resource management regimes.

 

3. To understand the social and historical context that resulted in the current set of common pool resource management regimes in Alaska.

 

4. To examine in depth, the oil/gas and fisheries resources in to determine if the present management regimes governing the use of these resources is equitable and sustainable.

 

5. To understand how the land acquisition, selection, and claims processes in Alaska have influenced the management of common-pool resources.

 

6. To understand the responsibilities and obligations of the various actors in the management of Alaska's natural resources-the people, the state of Alaska, the federal government, and private industry.

D. Textbooks:

  Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. 1991. Elinor Ostrom; Cambridge University Press, 280p; ISBN 0-521-40599-8.

The Global Commons: An Introduction. 1998. Susan J. Buck; Island Press, 225p; ISBN 1-55963-550-9.

Who Owns America? 1971. Walter J. Hickel. Prentice-Hall. (Available at "Title Wave" in Anchorage).

Prudhoe Bay...Discovery to Recovery. 1998. Gene Rutledge. Wolfe Business Services.

5. Readings

Hardin, Garrett. "The Tragedy of the Commons." Science. Vol. 162, no. 3858. 1968. pp 1243-48.

Brown, Greg and Charles C. Harris. "National Forest Management and the 'Tragedy of the Commons': A Multi-disciplinary Perspective." Society and Natural Resources. Vol. 5 1992. Pp 67-83.

 

6. Additional Related Readings

 

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Controversy: Technology, Conservation, and the Frontier. 1991. Peter A. Coates. Associated University Presses.

Extreme Conditions: Big Oil and the Transformation of Alaska. 1993. John Strohmeyer. Simon and Schuster.

Elephants and Whales: Resources for Whom? Edited by Milton Freeman and

Urs Kreuter. 1994.

Cooperative Management of Local Fisheries. Edited by Evelyn Pinkerton. 1989.

Common Property Resources: Ecology and Community-Based Development. Edited by Fikret Berkes. 1989.

 

7. Grading

  Grades will reflect student efforts in the following areas: 1) reading assigned materials, 2) attending class, 3) completing written assignments and group projects, 4) discussion of assigned readings, 5) comprehension of concepts (exam). Specifically, grade allocation will be based on the following:

10% Journal

20% Attendance and classroom participation

(no more than 2 absences allowed)

40% Group research project

30% Exam

 

Readings will be assigned each week. Students will write their thoughts about the readings and the field trips in a journal. Journals will be collected for review. The journals will serve to reinforce key concepts in the readings and to refresh the students' memories about the readings. Students should come prepared to discuss the readings in class.

Students will engage in a major research project in which the students investigate some aspect of natural resource management in Alaska.

 

8. Course Fees

The course will involve two field trips that require overnight travel. Course fees will cover travel and lodging expenses for the outings. Students will be expected to pay for their food. Preliminary estimate (subject to revision): $100.

Special Topic: The Future of Alaska's Natural Resource Commons

Schedule of Seminar Topics and Readings

Week 1 Theory and Empirical Findings of Common Pool Resource Management

Jan. 11 Introduction-

1. "Hardin, Garrett. "The Tragedy of the Commons." Science. Vol. 162, no. 3858. 1968. pp 1243-48.
2. Chapter 1 Governing the Commons, pp. 1-28.
3. Chapters 1 and 2 The Global Commons, pp. 1-44.
4. J. Burger and M. Gochfeld. "The Tragedy of the Commons 30 Years Later." Environment. December 1998.

Jan. 12 Institutional Approaches to Common Pool Resources

1. Chapter 2 Governing the Commons, pp. 29-57
2. Chapter 6 Governing the Commons, pp. 182-216.

Jan. 13 Alaska's Institutional Approach

1. Chapter 2 of Gov. Hickel's manuscript on the commons

0. 2. Overview of 5 important statutes to Alaskan history

Jan. 14 Seminar/Discussion with Walter Hickel

"Managing Alaska's Commons: Five laws that changed Alaska"

1. Who Owns America? Chapters 1-4.

  Week 2 Oil/Gas Development and Management in Alaska

Jan. 18 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Jan. 19 Fisheries Management

Seward Field Trip? (Sealife Center, Guest Speaker: Clem Tillion)

1. Chapters 3 and 4. The Global Commons.
2. "Promised Land: A History of Land Selection." 1987. Department of Natural Resources.

Jan. 21 Seminar with Walter Hickel

"Getting Prudhoe Bay Started from an Owner's Perspective"

1. Who Owns America? Chapter 5.

  Week 3 Land Allocation, Selection, and Claims & Fisheries Management in Alaska

Jan. 25 Prudhoe Bay Field Trip

1. Prudhoe Bay-Discovery to Recovery Parts I, II, III, V,VI

Jan. 26 Prudhoe Bay Field Trip

1. Prudhoe Bay-Discovery to Recovery Parts VIII, IX, X

Jan. 28 Seminar with Walter Hickel

1. Who Owns America? Chapter 6-8.

  Week 4 The Future of Alaska's Commons

Feb. 1 TBA

Feb. 2 TBA

Feb. 3 The Permanent Fund: Guest Speaker-Steve Linbeck

Feb. 4 Seminar with Walter Hickel

"The Commonwealth: using our returns to produce greater returns. Alaska's Permanent Fund and Other Related Topics"

1. Who Owns America? Chapter 12-13.

 Feb. 8 Last Day of Classes--Exam