Reclamation/restoration practices

Content related to: Reclamation/restoration practices

Caribou Recovery Pilot Project

The Caribou Recovery Pilot Project has been established to further develop the concept of a predator-free fenced area to support a small breeding population of woodland caribou (the Pilot). The Pilot is proposed as one conservation management tool in a suite of complementary recovery actions for boreal caribou that may be endorsed and implemented by the Government of Alberta as part of caribou action and range plans. Both habitat restoration and population management are likely required to ensure self-sustaining woodland caribou populations in northeast Alberta and the Pilot could provide immediate recovery benefits to complement longer-term habitat recovery efforts. 

See the linked Summary Report (2017)  

Boreal Caribou Habitat Restoration on the Parker Range

This is the first collaborative, landscape range restoration project of this scale in Canada, with Golder leading this group of stakeholders through the development of the project permitting, barriers to implementation, project planning, and an Indigenous Inclusion and Contracting Plan process. The plan has been designed to be implemented over a five year period, starting with a desktop disturbance and vegetation mapping exercise and implementation planning, through to applying restoration treatments and tactical implementation design. The project involves archaeology assessments, watercourse crossing assessments, local contractor procurement, tree planting, wildlife monitoring, and post-treatment monitoring.

Wolves use trails created by humans for convenient hunting and easier access to prey

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Cover of Conversation article-Wolves use trails created by humans for convenient hunting and easier access to prey

Zoom in and explore the northern boreal forests of western Canada on Google Earth and you’ll see long straight lines making their way through the forest. These lines are cleared trails through the forest to extract resources, creating roads for forestry and seismic lines searching for underground oil and gas deposits.

Now picture yourself faced with the task of moving across this landscape: Will you push your way through dense trees and underbrush, or will you choose to walk on the trails?

Like humans, wolves often choose the path of least resistance, moving faster and farther on human-created trails through the forest. Increased wolf movement is believed to play an important role in the decline of the threatened boreal woodland caribou— an iconic species in Canada (just look at the quarter in your pocket).

When wolves move farther, they encounter their prey more frequently, and caribou are being hunted by wolves at rates they cannot sustain.

 

See the full article here

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