Presented at the International Communication Association 2017 annual conference, at San Diego, CA, May 28 In the U.S., where policy action on climate change and natural resource management (NRM) is piecemeal at best, the fragile Arctic has predictably been hampered by political wrangling and corporate lobbying. This paper examines the obstacles encountered by organizations pursuing NRM in the U.S. Arctic, and how they are able to nonetheless enact effective NRM. I adopt a stakeholder perspective, drawing from communication research on sustainable organizing to trace ongoing tensions of local/global, science/community, and social/environmental in the Arctic. The qualitative study is based on interviews with 28 actors, fieldwork in five different sites, and analysis of key texts. Findings revealed a number of structural and communicative challenges to NRM, hinging on discursive closure. However, participants identified three overarching themes of effective NRM that were being accomplished—related to decision-making, everyday communicative work, and risk management for both institutional and environmental uncertainties. Both theoretical and practical implications are considered.

1. CHALLENGES TO AND PRACTICES OF
EFFECTIVE NATURAL RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT IN THE U.S. ARCTIC
Rahul Mitra, Ph.D.
Email: Rahul.mitra@wayne.edu

2. A CONVERSATION ABOUT
ART TURNS INTO A GRANT
APPLICATION, WHICH TURNS
INTO A SUMMER VACATION,
OOPS, I MEAN, A RESEARCH
STUDY, WHICH TURNS INTO
SEVERAL VACATION TRIPS,
OOPS, I MEAN, SEVERAL
FIELD VISITS TO STUDY
ORGANIZING IN THE U.S.
ARCTIC
This study is partially funded by
the CFPCA Research Award
and a Faculty Fellowship from
the Humanities Center at Wayne
State University.

3. PROFOUND EVERYDAY EFFECTS OF CLIMATE
CHANGE IN A FRAGILE ECO-SYSTEM, MINGLED
WITH “RED STATE” POLITICS, INDIGENOUS
RIGHTS, AND A FRAGMENTED POLICYSCAPE
Natural Resource Management (NRM), shaped by discourses of
sustainable organizing and stakeholder management

4. OH, AND THE
ORGANIZATIONAL
COMMUNICATION ANGLE,
TOO!
Critical
dialogue
Alternative
visioning
d/Discourse
tensions

5. WHERE’S RAHUL?
NomeAnchorage
Kotzebue
Barrow
Fairbanks

6. WHAT DID I END UP DOING?
WHO DID I TALK TO? WHAT
DID I WITNESS?
- In-depth interviews with 28
individuals (45-90 min)
- Organizations include: nonprofits,
think tanks, state agencies, federal
agencies, Alaska native corps.,
companies
- Four field visits to 5 sites, on
policy deliberation tours
preceding the U.S. chair of the
Arctic Circle, Arctic energy and
circumpolar law conferences
- Data included: observations, field
notes, video, audio recordings,
photographs
- Pragmatic iterative approach to
data analysis (Tracy, 2013)

7. OH, AND ALONG THE WAY,
I HAD A BLAST!!! 

8. RQ1: WHAT CHALLENGES ARE FACED BY
ORGANIZATIONS ENGAGED IN NATURAL
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (NRM)?
Structural Challenges
- Lack of key infrastructure
- Dominance of Big Oil
- Inadequate funding
- Existing laws too complicated or
restrictive
- Past policies failed local/native
communities
Communicative Challenges
- Intercultural differences
- Interminable discussions
- Opposed to “Big Government”
- Alaska as colonial outpost
- Environmentalists as “other”
- Overlap/conflict in organizational
missions
- Paradoxical policy

9. RQ2: HOW DOES EFFECTIVE NATURAL
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (NRM) OCCUR?
Decision-Making
- Holistic NRM
- Scientific methods
- Community knowledge
- Local application
- Precedent on the ground
- Local organizing to
change status quo
Communication
- Translate information
- Personal relationships
- Pan-Arctic connections
- Trust-building
- Widen collaboration
networks
Risk Management
- Institutional risks
- System complexities
- External events
- Plan with diminishing
resources in mind
- Local collaboration for
forecasting
- Realize benefits

10. Rahul Mitra, Ph.D.
Email: Rahul.mitra@wayne.edu