Paul’s project investigates socioecological change affecting Paiute communities in California and Nevada. It examines the cultural importance of pinyon forests on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and focuses on the development of new approaches to forest management that promote Paiute traditional foods and silvicultural practices. The Great Basin is experiencing increasing frequency of destructive fire, invasion by nonnative species, and loss of habitat for native plants and animals. Paiute communities with strong cultural ties to traditional land use practices and foods are impacted by these changes across the region.
Understanding these processes is critical to mitigating the effects climate change and land management practices have on communities that depend on natural resources for economic livelihoods, cultural practices, and social identities.
Collaborator
Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony and U.S. Forest Service
Student Researcher
Paul Berne Burow, Western Resources Fellow | Paul is a student in the combined doctoral degree program between the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and Department of Anthropology at Yale University. Paul’s work examines how changing ecosystems impact rural communities in Nevada and California. Paul’s research draws from mixed-method social scientific approaches in anthropology, geography, and ecology. See what Paul has been up to. | Blog
