Assessing the Long-term Economic Interactions between Industrial Forestry Activities, Non-renewable Resource Extraction and Caribou Recovery

There is an existing gap in knowledge on the economic impacts of caribou recovery measures on forestry activities and non-renewable resource extraction. To address this knowledge gap, this project will develop economic assessment tools that can be used to evaluate the relationship between forest harvesting, resource extraction activities and caribou recovery policies. This project will also maximize caribou protection and recovery efforts while minimizing costs to the forest sector. This research will produce an optimization model and provide economic planning tools to decision-makers to help determine the most cost-effective caribou restoration policies in areas that are affected by resource extraction, as well as assist with caribou range planning. Another goal of this project is to ensure a balance between caribou management objectives and interests of major forest sector stakeholders operating within Canadian boreal forests.