Subsistence gathering is part of life in Unalaska, and so is living alongside remnants of World War II.
Community members collect berries and fish around Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS). According to a new University of Alaska Fairbanks study, more than 80% of the Unalaskans they surveyed are concerned about whether these sites could be contaminating their subsistence foods.
Scientists with the university are working to answer those questions by testing soil and subsistence foods for contaminants and surveying residents about how concerns over FUDS have changed their harvesting practices.
Faith Green, project manager on the FUDS research project, was on Unalaska Island in early October to share preliminary findings and gather community feedback. For this episode of “Island Interviews”, KUCB’s Sofia Stuart-Rasi sat down with Green to discuss what the team has learned so far and why this research is important for everyone who calls Unalaska home.
You can find the project's data through two online mapping applications: Unalaska Soil Contamination Mapping and Unalaska Subsistence Survey Mapping.
KUCB will have a more in-depth story on FUDS contamination and subsistence foods soon.
