Cultural Landscapes: Protection of Traditional Hunting and Trapping Areas in the Northwest Territories
GEOB 370 Final Project
University of British Columbia
Figure 8. Distribution of Areas Identified as Suitable for Further Protection
Table 1. Suitability Value, Cell Count, and Suitable Area Total
Figure 9. Distribution of Areas Identified as Suitable for Protection Already Falling Within Sahtu Land and Areas Not Protected By Any Land Claim.
Table 2. Comparison of Areas Identified as Suitable for Protection, Areas Already Falling Within Sahtu Land and Areas Not Protected By Any Land Claim.
Three maps were produced as the result of a multicriteria analysis. The maps, which can be accessed under the Results tab, include a Hunting Area Map, Trapping Area Map, and Protected Area Map.
The Hunting Area Map displays areas likely to contain hunting trails, based on criteria outlined in the Methodology page. Areas most likely to contain hunting trails were those with low slope, nearby moose habitat, within close proximity of Tulit'a, and within distance of important sites in oral tradition. On the map, areas displayed in white are most likely to contain trails, and areas in black are least likely. Purple areas on the map represent Sahtu land of type 1 surficial rights land claim.
Hunting trails tend to concentrate close to Tulit'a, as this area is also nearby the important oral tradition sites and occupies an area of low slope. Moose tend to favour grazing areas alongside rivers and areas of water, so much of the land adjacent to the Deh Cho (Mackenzie River) contains high suitability trail potential. There are some areas identified as somewhat likely to contain trails within the Mackenzie Mountains in the southwestern corner of the map. This can be attributed to the fact that moose tend to follow river systems, leading them into areas of higher slope. An area of reasonable suitability also exists in the southeast corner of the map, which is covered by a large area of moose habitat. However, this area was classified as less suitable than areas of closer proximity to Tulit'a. Overall, the areas which are most likely to have intermediate to heavy trail use are adjacent to the low slope terrain of the Deh Cho river.
While potential hunting trails tend to be concentrated to areas of the river valley, potential trapping areas are much more dispersed. In comparison to the hunting areas map, there is much more land of intermediate suitability for trapping trails within the region. Suitable trapping area also tends to favour the eastern half of the region. This could have resulted through the combination of several factors; first, there is a large area of marten habitat occupying the northeastern corner of the map; overlapping beaver and lynx habitat in the southeastern corner also makes trapping more efficient with access to two furbearing species. However, it seems that the largest contributor to the eastern dispersal of trapping areas is slope. As can be seen in the Study Area Map, the eastern half of the region features areas of low slope, allowing for increased mobility of trappers traveling by foot. The most concentrated areas of likely trail use, once again, are within close proximity of Tulit'a.
The combined areas of likely trail use suggested for protection (pink colour) are mostly concentrated in the north eastern region of the study area. A large corridor of likely trail use exists between Tulit'a and the community of Deline. High trail use suitability also concentrates around areas of low slope in the Deh Cho river valley. Areas become less likely to contain trails the closer they are to the Mackenzie Mountains. Figure 8. displays the distribution of the overall likelihood of land containing trail use and its suitability for considered protection.
The most suitable areas of land containing likely trail use were identified and separated for further analysis. The land was divided into two categories: highly suitable areas falling within Sahtu land, and highly suitable areas falling outside of Sahtu land. The distribution of area in square kilometers is displayed in figure 9. A greater amount of highly suitable trail areas predictably falls within Sahtu land than outside Sahtu land, as more people are likely to have settled in favourable areas. However, in areas of fair to moderate suitability (classes 4 to 9), the amount of suitable trail use distinctly falls outside of Sahtu land claim area.
Results
The graph displays a normal distribution with a slightly positive skew. The majority of land assessed within this study (in square kilometers) is classified in areas as moderate to somewhat suitable. Land designated as most deserving of consideration for further protection falls under classes ranked from 2 to 9. Areas for suggested protected land fall mostly under classes ranked as moderate suitability.
Table 1. displays the calculated total (based on pixel count and cell size) of area falling within each class in square kilometers. As is reflected in the graph, the bulk of area tends to fall within classes of moderate suitability. Areas of most suitable land, represented in white on the protected areas map, account for 1733 square kilometers.
Table 2. displays the calculated total areas of suitable trail use, suitable trail areas falling within Sahtu land, and suitable areas falling outside of Sahtu land. For the most suitable classes (2 and 3), more land falls within Sahtu land than outside of it. However, this relationship dramatically reverses for any areas classified as 4 or above. The total area represented by land outside of Sahtu land claim boundaries is far greater than the total area represented within Sahtu land claim boundaries.