This document outlines an approach to range planning for boreal woodland caribou (hereafter “boreal caribou”) in the Northwest Territories (NWT). It provides a common framework for how individual range plans, which manage habitat disturbance at a regional level, will be developed and updated over time. Section 3 of this Framework document describes a management approach that can be tailored to each region to support healthy and sustainable caribou populations, and Section 4 describes additional considerations that decision-makers will use in developing regional range plans.
This Framework addresses the recommendations to develop and implement range plans for boreal caribou habitat outlined in the NWT Boreal Caribou Recovery Strategy1 (hereafter “NWT Recovery Strategy”) as well as obligations to protect critical habitat for boreal caribou identified in Environment and Climate Change Canada’s National Recovery Strategy for Woodland Caribou, Boreal Population2 (hereafter “National Recovery Strategy”). Other approaches to conserve and recover boreal caribou,3 such as harvest management, research and monitoring, collaborative management and information sharing, are being addressed through additional implementation of the NWT Recovery Strategy, as described in the Conference of Management Authorities Implementation Agreement.