Case Studies

The following case studies may be of interest to resource management students.



THE SKOKOMISH RIVER

Cushman Dam No. 1, By City of Tacoma Department of Public Utilities; Unknown photographer [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

     The Cushman Hydroelectric Project was completed by the City of Tacoma in 1930. It built two dams on the North Fork of the Skokomish River, rerouted a portion of the river, and flooded an area for a reservoir. As a result, river flows were significantly reduced. This had numerous cultural and economic impacts to the Skokomish tribe which relied on that portion of the river for sustenance and cultural traditions. The tribe worked with anthropologists to produce a video called “The Tribe’s Plan: Healing the Skokomish Watershed” in 1995 to help raise awareness about alternate ways of managing the dams that could restore the watershed. After a series of petitions and litigation during the 1980s and 1990s, the tribe sued the city in 1998 over the impacts of the Cushman project. Visual computer models were also created to compare the effects of different future management scenarios for the river. Although the tribe lost in the U.S. Court of Appeals, the court did require that much larger minimum river flow requirements be upheld. The improved understanding and awareness achieved through visual media also helped to negotiate an improved watershed management plan for the North Fork of the Skokomish River. Eventually, perhaps as a result of these methods, a historic settlement agreement was signed in 2008 between Tacoma Power, the Skokomish Tribal Nation, and various other state and federal agencies. 

     Although it does not appear to be currently available online, a VHS copy of the video “The Tribe’s Plan: Healing the Skokomish Watershed” is housed at the Timberland Regional Library in Tumwater, Washington. 

More background:

Timeline of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project:

http://www.ecotrust.org/wian/skokomish/cushman.html

The Value of a River (1998)

By Lansing, Lansing, and Erazo, published in the Journal of Political Ecology

http://jpe.library.arizona.edu/volume_5/1lansing.pdf

     This article argues for the cultural and economic value of the Skokomish River to the tribe of the same name. It details how the tribe was impacted by the Cushman Hydroelectric Project. The authors describe the river as a form of “natural capital” rather than other types of value usually applied by the courts, such as the amount of generated income.

The models of management scenarios can be viewed here:

http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lansing/skokomish/skokomish

Details of the settlement can be viewed here:

https://www.mytpu.org/newsroom/power-news/tacoma-power-signs.htm

Youtube video of the ceremony when the river flow was increased:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1n1mDY4nY8

Details of the settlement can be viewed here:

https://www.mytpu.org/newsroom/power-news/tacoma-power-signs.htm

The 2005 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals can be viewed here:

http://www.u.arizona.edu/~jlansing/J._Stephen_Lansing/Current_Projects_files/Cushman%20decision.pdf

More information, including the visual models of different management scenarios, can be found on Lansing’s website, although some of the links do not work:

http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lansing/skokomish/skokomish

FIRST NATION COMMUNITIES IN CANADA

Connectivity in Canada’s Far North: Participatory Evaluation in Ontario’s Aboriginal Communities (2004)

By George Ferreira, Ricardo Ramirez, Brian Walmark

http://www.turtleisland.org/education/digvidnorth.pdf

This article provides great background on the Fogo Process and describes a case study that recently applied it to indigenous communities in Canada over a three-year period. Information about the impacts of policy changes on the communities was gathered using video recordings. They resulted in obtaining information that would not have been gathered using traditional questionnaires and surveys. The videos were also used to make policy makers aware of the issues faced by members of indigenous communities and to alter their opinions. They can also be used as a record of the history and traditional knowledge of each community.

More background on the Fogo process:

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~snowden/fogo.htm

HERDERS IN LESOTHO, AFRICA

Lesotho Herders Video Project: Exploration in Visual Anthropology 

By Chuck Scott

 http://www.amazon.com/Lesotho-Herders-Video-Project-Anthropology/dp/8789825047

     This book details how visual anthropology methods were used in a case study to document the lives of herders in Africa. Issues of land management and use of natural resources are also discussed.The book, and other articles about the project, can be requested through Summit and Inter-library loan.