This National Science Foundation (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (CFDA 47.075) Project Grant award of $162,477 to Nmc, Inc. (doing business as New Mexico Consortium) supports an interdisciplinary research project investigating long-term human fire management and environmental change in high-elevation ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. The primary objectives are to conduct archaeological surveys, interpret historical subsistence practices and burning regimes, and evaluate how human-environment interactions have shaped high-elevation landscapes over time. The project employs a combination of archaeology, paleoecology, participatory mapping, and computational modeling to develop novel methods of paleo-fire reconstruction and strengthen connections between past human land use, cultural burning, and vegetation change. Outcomes from this 3-year research effort are expected to enhance cooperative management strategies, maintain cultural ecosystem services, and buffer against potential loss in these high-elevation systems.
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