Caribou crossings: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, conservation, and stakeholdership in the Anthropocene
Abstract This article engages with notions of conservation in the Anthropocene from a history-of-science perspective. It does so by looking at an iconic case of infrastructure development that since the 1970s continues to cause controversies amongst wildlife experts: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System...
Published in: | The British Journal for the History of Science |
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2022
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0007087422000048 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0007087422000048 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0007087422000048 2024-09-15T18:01:45+00:00 Caribou crossings: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, conservation, and stakeholdership in the Anthropocene Schleper, Simone 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0007087422000048 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0007087422000048 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The British Journal for the History of Science volume 55, issue 2, page 127-143 ISSN 0007-0874 1474-001X journal-article 2022 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007087422000048 2024-08-14T04:04:09Z Abstract This article engages with notions of conservation in the Anthropocene from a history-of-science perspective. It does so by looking at an iconic case of infrastructure development that since the 1970s continues to cause controversies amongst wildlife experts: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). I examine how, from the 1970s onwards, the TAPS functioned as an experimental device for ecologists to test the adaptability of migratory caribou to changed environments and their dependency on unaltered ranges. Based on archival research, published reports and interviews, I show that arguments about animal learning, despite assigning a more active role to caribou in the conservation process, did not result in more inclusive forms of development that respected ecological processes and the various stakes of the caribou. In fact, a focus on caribou crossings as an easily observable, yet sole, indicator of the pipeline's impact resulted in a simplified representation of environmental relationships, that was used by the oil industry to argue for additional extraction projects. Arguments based on the material interdependencies of caribou with their environment, though seemingly similar to traditional arguments about range preservation, emerged as part of conservationists’ attempts to account for the ecological stakes of caribou, other animals and people. Article in Journal/Newspaper caribou Alaska Cambridge University Press The British Journal for the History of Science 1 17 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract This article engages with notions of conservation in the Anthropocene from a history-of-science perspective. It does so by looking at an iconic case of infrastructure development that since the 1970s continues to cause controversies amongst wildlife experts: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). I examine how, from the 1970s onwards, the TAPS functioned as an experimental device for ecologists to test the adaptability of migratory caribou to changed environments and their dependency on unaltered ranges. Based on archival research, published reports and interviews, I show that arguments about animal learning, despite assigning a more active role to caribou in the conservation process, did not result in more inclusive forms of development that respected ecological processes and the various stakes of the caribou. In fact, a focus on caribou crossings as an easily observable, yet sole, indicator of the pipeline's impact resulted in a simplified representation of environmental relationships, that was used by the oil industry to argue for additional extraction projects. Arguments based on the material interdependencies of caribou with their environment, though seemingly similar to traditional arguments about range preservation, emerged as part of conservationists’ attempts to account for the ecological stakes of caribou, other animals and people. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schleper, Simone |
spellingShingle |
Schleper, Simone Caribou crossings: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, conservation, and stakeholdership in the Anthropocene |
author_facet |
Schleper, Simone |
author_sort |
Schleper, Simone |
title |
Caribou crossings: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, conservation, and stakeholdership in the Anthropocene |
title_short |
Caribou crossings: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, conservation, and stakeholdership in the Anthropocene |
title_full |
Caribou crossings: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, conservation, and stakeholdership in the Anthropocene |
title_fullStr |
Caribou crossings: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, conservation, and stakeholdership in the Anthropocene |
title_full_unstemmed |
Caribou crossings: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, conservation, and stakeholdership in the Anthropocene |
title_sort |
caribou crossings: the trans-alaska pipeline system, conservation, and stakeholdership in the anthropocene |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0007087422000048 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0007087422000048 |
genre |
caribou Alaska |
genre_facet |
caribou Alaska |
op_source |
The British Journal for the History of Science volume 55, issue 2, page 127-143 ISSN 0007-0874 1474-001X |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007087422000048 |
container_title |
The British Journal for the History of Science |
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1 |
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17 |
_version_ |
1810438828994854912 |