University of Alberta Shades of Green: the social nature of Yukon forests by Jodie Asselin A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology ©Jodie Asselin Spring 2013 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. Abstract This dissertation is an exploration of forests as understood and encountered from numerous perspectives in the Yukon Territory. Dealing primarily with non-indigenous Yukon residents who hunt, trap, work, recreate within, and aim to protect Yukon forests, it addresses the origins and implications of diverse forest perspectives in Canada’s north. This work is based primarily off of anthropological fieldwork that took place in the Yukon Territory in 2009. Methods included archival research, interviews and participant observation. As a means of exploring the origin of forest perspectives, the author focuses on four key areas: Yukon forest history and contemporary forest views that invoke forest history, different experiences and knowledge of forests, the implications of regulation and boundaries on the forest experience, and the role imagination plays in forest perception. Forests were approached as multilocal and multivocal place, working from the assumption that forests were experienced and understood differently by residents. As a result, many contradictions became apparent that forest users were living with. For example Yukon forests are experienced as both pristine wilderness and as places of intensive human use, as places of freedom while also being bound by bureaucracy, and as the focus of competing forms of environmentalism. A number of points arise from the examination of such contradictions including the potential for used spaces to once again be experienced as wild, how simplified self-narratives can mask complex human-environment relations, and how the language surrounding forest use and management is not necessarily based on common understandings of forests experience. Rather than focusing on forests as the background to broader social or economic issues, this work examines the multilocal and multivocal nature of forests as a means to better understanding local views, actions and relationships between forest users. Acknowledgments This work is the accumulation of many years of research, fieldwork, writing and editing. Many individuals and organizations have been part of its realization and I am very thankful to those who took the time to work with me in various capacities to ensure the research took place and that this dissertation was completed. Firstly, I give my heartfelt thanks to those Yukon residents who took time out of their busy lives to speak to me about Yukon forests and to answer the endless questions I posed about this and many other subjects. I hope I have done your words justice, given your values and views fair representation, and provided a source of information you feel has value and use beyond academia. In particular there were some who took a special effort to work with me, who met with me many times, and to whom I stayed in touch with in the years following fieldwork. I would like to give particular thanks for your time, opinions, and friendship. At the University of Alberta, my supervisor, Dr. Mark Nuttall, has worked with me throughout both my MA and PhD, and has been a constant source of support for the last seven years. I thank you for your advice, edits, meeting, letters, research opportunities, and most of all for sharing with me your knowledge of, and approach to, anthropology. I would also like to thank Dr. Andie Palmer, who acted as my co- supervisor and committee member. You have been nothing but encouraging at absolutely every step of the way. Thank you also to Dr. Naomi Krogman who has offered her support and comments at various stages of this work, and whose criticisms were always clear, concise, and spot on. I would also like to thank the office staff at the University of Alberta, Department of Anthropology: Gail Mathew, Liz Jobagy, Erin Plume, and Joanne McKinnon. Though many of you are no longer with the department, your knowledge and support has been a constant at every stage. This work has been supported financially in many ways. I would like to thank the Department of Anthropology, Canadian Circumpolar Institute, Circumpolar-Boreal Alberta Research Fund and the Northern Scientific Training Program, as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. It is through the support of these programs and organizations that many forms of research takes place, I am proud to be a recipient of their funds and general support. For me this dissertation is the result of a larger endeavour that began in 2005 with my Master’s studies. Throughout that time I have had constant support from my family and friends. Alicia Hibbert and Fiona Robertson, thank you for your edits, encouragement and positivity. I also would like to thank my mom and dad who never once questioned my ability to reach the goals I set for myself, and who often reminded me of my abilities when I had forgotten. During this period I was also lucky enough have all three of my children. Olivier, Pascal, and little Elanore, thank you for your patience, for gracefully moving along with me wherever I needed to go, and for cheering along the way. Of course, my husband Gabriel Asselin, who has been completing his graduate studies and working alongside me. For us, family, work, and school has very much been a joint effort. I am proud of the life we have made for each other and of the meaningful work that has been the result of our efforts. As a colleague, husband, and as the father of our children, you have been absolutely unwavering. Thank you for your support, insights, patience, wisdom, and simple practicality when it was called for. Table of Contents List of Tables List of Maps, Illustrations, Photographs Chapter One, Introduction: exploring the meaning of forests 1 - Project Outline - Thesis Overview Chapter Two, Fieldwork in the Yukon Territory: research description and methods 12 - Introduction Fieldwork Location - Study Scope User Groups Choice of Participant Focus - Research Description Fieldwork, 2009 - Post Fieldwork Chapter Three, Theoretical and Social Context 38 - Forests as a Focus of Research - Approaching the Idea of Environment o Constructivism o Dwelling - Language and Environmental Perception o Genealogy of Subject o Working with Numerous Groups - A Place-based Approach o Place and Experience o The Relationship Between Places o Exploring Place Through Yukon Boundaries and Land Divisions Chapter Four, Timber Use in the Yukon Territory 74 - Timber Use During the Klondike Gold Rush - Post-Rush Years - The Alaska Highway and Timber Use - Post World War II Timber Use - Modern Timber Use Chapter Five, Historic Narrative: invoking the past to make sense of today 110 - Conflicting Narratives and Invoking the Past - Tracing Shifting Values Over Time Post-War Shifts in the Value of Nature Changing Forest Values and Management - Collecting Data and Organizing Nature: forests as permanent potential - Making Sense of Today Chapter Six, Experience: place-making in Yukon forests 142 - Practice and Place Places Gather - Knowledge and Skill Acquiring Skill - Caring for Forests - Understanding Forest Encounters Chapter Seven, The Social Nature of Yukon Forests as Structured Space 184 - Management Structures in Brief - Encountering Bureaucracy and Use-Based Labels Bureaucracy as Part of the Forest Experience Countering Use-Based Labels - Breaking or Bending Rules - Socio-Environmental Structures and the Forest Encounter Chapter Eight, Imagination: framing forest perception 211 - Yukon Wilderness: “Yukon, larger than life” - Nature, North, and Nationalism - Hidden Activities - Imagined Forests Chapter Nine, Yukon Forests: Past, present and future 238 - The Boreal Forest Concept - Wilderness Anew - Beyond Boreal and Wilderness - Living with and Expressing Contradiction - Looking Forward Appendix A 256 Appendix B 257 Bibliography 259 Tables Tables Page - Figure 3.1 Research Procedures Timeline 26 - Figure 3.2 Participant’s Primary Interest in Forested Areas 33 - Figure 4.1 Forest Harvest in the Yukon Between 1899 and 1986 98 Maps, Illustrations, Photographes Maps Page - Map 1. 1 Yukon Territory, Canada 1 - Map 3.1 Traditional Territories of Yukon First Nations 68 - Map 3.2 Guide-Outfitting Concessions of the Yukon Territory 70 - Map 3.3 Game Management Areas of the Yukon Territory 71 - Map 3.4 Ecoregions of the Yukon Territory 72 - Map 4. 1 Map of Select Yukon Timber Berths 1898 87 - Map 4.2 Yukon Waterways 88 - Map 4.3 Ryder Wood Camps Near the Whitehorse Area 95 - Map 9. 1 Northern Circumpolar Map of the Boreal Forest 241 - Map 9.2 1937 Forest Classification Map of Canada 244 Illustrations - Figure 1.1 Due East Over Stokes Mountain, Matthew Rangel 6 Images - Image 3.1 Remains of a Forest Fire as seen from Highway 20 - Image 3.2 Results of the Fire Smart Program, near Whitehorse 21 - Image 3.3 Forests South West of Dawson City 21 - Image 3.4 Forests within Whitehorse City Limits, Yukon River 22 - Image 3.5 Author and Son, Faro, Yukon Territory 26 - Image 3.6 My Guide at our Rest Stop, Yukon River 28 - Image 4.1 A Pile of Wood near Dawson City (University of Alaska Fairbanks archives) 84 - Image 4 2.