This study developed out of concern of the well-being of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd associated with increasing human utilization and waste, suggestions of past range overstocking, increased exploration and development activities on the calving and summering grounds, evidence of heavy predation and alarming population declines in other Alaskan herds. Additionally, the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act and subsequent changing status of lands comprising the range of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd would result in a segmenting of the rangelands under differing management interests, thus posing a threat to the continued integrity of the total range of the herd. The focus of the research was on the interrelationships of the caribou with their rangelands and was guided by the following objectives: 1) to determine seasonal use patterns of range lands by the Western Arctic Herd, 2)to assess quality and relative productivity of these range lands, 3) to map the range lands used by the Western Arctic Herd according to vegetation types and quality, the patterns of seasonal use, availability of forage in relation to snow cover, migration routes and calving grounds, and 4) to initiate the development of a model of the grazing ecology of the Western Arctic Herd in collaboration with investigative programs being carried out through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Alaska.