Indigenous Vision

DESCRIPTION:THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL DEPLOY PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED DETECTION DOGS TO SURVEY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS AND COVID-19 IN CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT LANDSCAPES ON AND SURROUNDING THE BLACKFEET NATION OF NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANA. CONSERVATION DETECTION DOGS TRAINED BY WORKING DOGS FOR CONSERVATION WILL BE USED TO FIND SCAT SAMPLES FROM TWO SENTINEL SPECIES: MINK AND OTTER. BOTH MINK AND OTTER ARE AQUATIC SPECIES EXPLOITING THE INVERTEBRATE AND PISCINE COMPONENTS OF AQUATIC FOOD WEBS, RESPECTIVELY. HEAVY METALS, PHARMACEUTICALS, FLAME RETARDANTS, AND COVID-19 CAN ALL BE RECOVERED FROM THESE TWO MUSTELIDS' SCATS. AS SUCH, THESE SPECIES CAN REVEAL THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THESE CONTAMINANTS AND DISEASE. ACTIVITIES:K9 DETECTION AND MAPPING OF MINK AND OTTER SCAT. THIS INCLUDES BASE TRAINING, SO THAT THE DOGS ARE TRAINED AND RELIABLE, FIELD-READY AND THEY WORK WELL WITH THE DOG HANDLER AS A TEAM. THE SECOND PART OF THE ACTIVITY IS A DEMONSTRATION TO COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHERE THE K9 SKILLS AND RELIABILITY ARE OBSERVED BY THE COMMUNITY. THE FINAL PART OF THE K9 TRAINING IS THE ACTUAL FIELD DEPLOYMENT, WHERE SAMPLES ARE COLLECTED. THE SECOND PART OF THE GRANT WILL BE COMMUNITY INFORMATION DISSEMINATION. SUBRECIPIENT:NO SUBAWARDS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT.OUTCOMES:EFFICIENT SOURCING OF SAMPLES FROM SENTINEL SPECIES (MINK AND OTTER). HIGH QUALITY SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS, CLEAR IDENTIFICATION OF CONTAMINANT AND DISEASE PATTERNS. TRUST AND BELIEF IN K9 METHODS, ACTION BASED ON SPATIAL/ECOLOGICAL PATTERNS OF CONTAMINATION OR DISEASE OBSERVED. HEALTHIER FOOD. LESS EXPOSURE TO CONTAMINANTS AND DISEASE, HEALTHIER BLACKFEET POPULATION. BETTER RESOURCE COLLECTION AND MANAGEMENT DECISIONS (SPECIFICALLY, AVOIDANCE OF EXISTING CONTAMINATION) CLEANUP OF CONTAMINATED AREAS AND PREVENTION OF FUTURE CONTAMINATION.