Beyond boom and bust: a strategy for sustainable development in the North

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Pretes, Michael, Robinson, Michael
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1989
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Yukon; Northwest Territories; Polar Record; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740001041x; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740001041X

Abstract Many northern regions of North America have come to rely heavily on extraction of non-renewable resources for their income, at the expense of traditional land-based economies. Such extraction leads to boom and bust income, destructive to long-term planning for sustainable development. Natural resource trust funds, as exemplified in Alberta, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico, would help to provide the stability that is currently lacking in Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Maintained by setting aside part of the current income from non-renewable resources, they yield capital and income that can be used to encourage the mixed, self-sustaining local communities appropriate for the North.