Wood was awarded a contract in 2008 to undertake baseline wildlife assessments in the study area and develop and conduct a long-term mammals monitoring program (focused on caribou, moose and wolves). The monitoring program measures wildlife responses to mine redevelopment locally as well as more regionally within the Kesagami range and informs mitigation and compensation components of provincial Species at Risk approvals. Monitoring objectives are focused on identifying important seasonal habitat areas that have the potential to be directly or indirectly impacted by the mine or any future expansion. The focus of the monitoring program is on delineating more detailed baseline information on spatio-temporal parameters of woodland caribou including annual and seasonal range use, fidelity to core use and/or seasonal ranges that may directly inform impact assessments as well as compensation and mitigation strategies to be implemented. A road network habitat restoration project is in the initial consultation/planning phase. Caribou monitoring methods undertaken at the range scale include satellite telemetry (n=20 collars and mortality investigations), systematic aerial surveys of ungulate-wolf occurrence and caribou herd composition. The caribou surveys include group classification (age, sex) and calf recruitment to support population modelling of state and vital rates.

Project DescriptionOff-Highway vehicles are widely used on these seismic lines and can hamper vegetative re-growth because of ongoing physical damage and compaction. Understanding where motorized activity may be impeding regeneration of seismic lines will help to prioritize restoration. To target restoration efforts, our objective was to use field and GIS data to determine factors that best explained levels of motorized ATV use on seismic lines. The study was focused within the ranges of two boreal caribou herds (Little Smoky, Chinchaga), and three central mountain caribou herds (A La Peche, Redrock Prairie Creek, Narraway).

Project Outcomes or Intended Outcomes

• ATV use was driven by local topography and vegetation attributes of seismic lines that facilitated ease-of-travel.
• In the northern boreal landscape (Chinchaga), ATV use was most common in dry areas with a large industrial footprint.
• In highly disturbed areas of the foothills (Little Smoky, A La Peche), ATV use increased in areas with low vegetation heights, dryer soils, and closer to forest harvest, while in less disturbed areas of the foothills (Redrock Prairie Creek, Narraway), motorized activity decreased with seismic line density, slope, and white-tailed deer abundance, and increased with distance to roads.
• We generated predictive maps of motorized activity identifying 21,777 km of seismic lines where active restoration could expedite regeneration

This study evaluates the effects of closing and dismantling forest roads on the behavior of caribou, their predators, and alternate prey. This study uses a large network of camera traps on treated and control forest roads. The number of individuals from each species counted on roadside cameras will be related to treatment, as well as several covariates such as local density of each species, time, recent weather conditions, and local characteristics of each road section.

Forest roads represent a major disturbance in several boreal caribou ranges across Canada. As such, the development of an effective method for restoring forest roads would be a significant gain, balancing the socio-economic impacts of sustainable resource management and land use with national commitments to conserve biodiversity. The proposed work could be used to restore roads created during past harvest operations, thus improving the quality of critical habitat for boreal caribou, or to identify new ways to develop forest road networks that take caribou habitat into account.

Our goal is to improve conifer seedling survival and growth so that planted seedlings will reach the "free to grow" stage sooner. It is at this stage when the exponential growth trajectory towards mature conifer tree cover begins. We are applying a natural plant biostimulant during forest nursery culture to improve the development of root growth potential, which is expressed after planting on restoration sites. We are first determining the rate of biostimulant to apply (tree species dependent) and assessing its physiological effects on seedlings in a CFS research nursery (greenhouse, outplanting beds, and growth chambers). Next, we will be collaborating with a commercial forest nursery to implement the new practice.  Seedlings from this nursery will be outplanted on linear features with annual measurements over a 5-year period, in collaboration with an oil and gas end user.

This study will provide forest nurseries with a novel tool for production of designer, summer-planting conifer seedlings with enhanced root growth for caribou habitat restoration. These seedlings with enhanced root growth will improve rates of survival and growth compared with current rates.  Our goal is to share this knowledge with nurseries across Canada growing conifer seedlings for boreal caribou habitat restoration and with various end-users.