3.0 Affected Environment - Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority

Knik Arm Crossing DraftFinal EIS
Affected Environment
Table 3-8. Percentage of individuals below the
poverty level in the Study Area, 1999 and 1989
Area 1999 1989
Municipality of Anchorage 7.35 7.07
Government Hill 9.16 21.84
Matanuska-Susitna Borough 11.01 9.39
Mat-Su Study Area 10.43 8.43
Point MacKenzie 22.67 34.09
City of Palmer 12.66 6.21
City of Wasilla 9.59 10.85
City of Houston 17.09 9.78
Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2005
3.2.4.5 Educational attainment
Educational attainment is one indicator of the human resources available in a community and
the level of labor force preparation. In general, income increases with advancing educational
attainment. In 2000, just over 90 percent of Anchorage residents 25 years and older were
high school graduates or higher, placing Anchorage among the top metropolitan areas in the
nation in educational attainment. Educational levels at the bachelor’s degree level are lower
in the Mat-Su than in Anchorage (18.3 percent compared with 28.9 percent) and have not
changed significantly since 1990. Over 88 percent of residents, however, had earned a high
school degree or higher degree. In Anchorage and the Mat-Su, approximately 3 percent of the
population had less than a ninth-grade education.
3.2.5 Subsistence
Prior to the arrival of the first Europeans in the Upper Cook Inlet area in the late 1700s, the
indigenous Dena’ina resided in fish camps and winter villages along both shores of the Knik
Arm. The Dena’ina harvested local resources from the lands and waters within the Upper
Cook Inlet basin. With the development of Anchorage since its inception in 1915 and
population growth within the region, the Dena’ina have been displaced from traditional
camps and harvest locations. Historic subsistence and cultural sites along Knik Arm, known
to date are described in Section 3.6. Although some Dena’ina moved further from the
Anchorage area (Tyonek and the Kenai Peninsula) in response to ongoing development,
descendents of the Upper Inlet Dena’ina now live in Eklutna, Knik, Chickaloon, Anchorage,
and portions of the Mat-Su. Cultural attachments to traditional and historic places and
activities endure, and the Dena’ina continue to harvest local resources as they have for
centuries (KABATA 2004a).
3.2.5.1 Subsistence as defined under state and federal law
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA) requires that
subsistence hunting and gathering be addressed for all projects on federal lands in Alaska.
Subsistence is defined in ANILCA, Section 803, as “the customary and traditional uses by
rural Alaska residents of wild, renewable resources” for noncommercial purposes. Hunting,
fishing, trapping, and gathering natural resources are major elements of the cultural and
economic life of many Anchorage and Mat-Su-area residents. However, federal law regulates
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