• Kassam, Karim-Aly
  Cornell University
  

Natural resource-dependent communities in the Northern Forest are affected by the converging challenges of economic crisis, increasing energy demands, and climate change. Ensuring access and sustainable use of natural resources will make Northern Forest communities and ecosystems more resilient to such large-scale changes. Results of previous NSRC-funded research in Maine indicate that Native American gatherers have experienced significant decreases in access to culturally important plant species. We employed participatory methods to collect socio-cultural and biophysical data about four species (muskrat root, Acorus spp.; goldthread, Coptis trifolia; sweetgrass, Hierochloe odorata; and highbush cranberry, Viburnum opulus), their uses, habitat requirements, and gatherers’ stewardship practices. Botanical field work and herbarium research provided additional insights into muskrat root.