摘要：Oil-dependent indigenous communities in remote regions of Alaska and elsewhere are facing an unprecedentedcrisis. With the cost of fuel and transport skyrocketing, energy costs are crippling local economies, leading to increasingoutmigration and concern for their very existence in the future. What can be done to address this energy crisis, and promoteenergy security, sustainability and resilience in rural forest communities. We examine the potential of developing a sustainablebiomass-energy industry in Southeast Alaska, home to nearly 16,000 Alaska Natives in a dozen rural and two urban communitieswithin the United States' largest national forest: The Tongass. Although the potential for biomass energy has long been touted,realization of the opportunity has been catalyzed only recently as part of a model of sustainable development being enacted bythe region's largest Native corporation, Sealaska, and its subsidiary, Haa Aaní ("Our Land") L.L.C. In this paper we examinethe unique nature of Alaska Native corporations and their potential as engines of sustainable development, particularly throughSealaska's emerging cultural model of sustainability in relation to social-ecological well-being. We assess the economic,ecological, and atmospheric emissions parameters of a wood-biomass energy industry at various scales according to the "triplebottom line" of sustainability. Finally, we address what additional policy and support measures may be necessary to nurture thesuccessful transition to biomass energy at a sustainable scale to support rural indigenous communities, a more resilient, renewableenergy system, and a lower carbon footprint
关键词：forest ecosystems; indigenous communities; Native corporations; policy recommendations; sustainable;development; triple bottom line analysis; wood-biomass energy
