Broader Implications for Indigenous Food Sovereignty
Identifying how industrial land-use impacts subsistence species is only one component of the much larger issues facing Indigenous communities and Indigenous Food Sovereignty efforts (Batal et al., 2021). The rising costs of hunting and food contamination concern Indigenous communities reliant on country food (Chan et al., 2021; Shafiee et al., 2022). These issues are only exacerbated by species declines and changes in how species occupy and use landscapes as human pressures and fires increase. Concerns over access to high protein sources, specifically moose for WLFN, are evident. Community members note the challenges associated with finding moose, a lack of wildlife tracks, and evidence of browsing in harvested areas despite the possibility that regenerating stands result in increased forage (see Koetke et al. (2023). Without access to subsistence species like moose, Indigenous Food Sovereignty is increasingly out of reach for Indigenous Peoples in these systems. Thus, it is critical for Indigenous Peoples to gain additional knowledge of how these human features are impacting species habitat use, which WLFN has done using surveys and remote cameras, and to be able to harvest moose when found. Supporting these efforts through the co-production of research based on data collection and questions led by WLFN is one critical component of supporting Indigenous Food Sovereignty.