Presentation Date: October 16, 2019

While climate change, ecotoxicity, and biodiversity loss are keystones of modern human land-use, we know that humans have not always negatively influenced the environments they inhabit. Using a suite of historical-ecological and archaeological methods, I explore anthropogenic impacts in the Skeena watershed over the last 5,000 years. I highlight how we untangle past cultural and biophysical processes that have resulted in functionally diverse and resilient ecosystems observed today. Examples drawn from the Coast to the Interior emphasize the important role of historical ecology in contemporary land-use practices and Indigenous rights and title.