Overview

The BC government is expected to make a decision this fall on how to protect mountain caribou, an endangered species that lives in the mountains of southeastern BC. The situation for mountain is urgent: the population (over 90% of which is found in British Columbia) is down to 1900 animals, a major decline in just the last decade.

The solution is protecting the habitat the caribou rely upon. For centuries, mountain caribou have flourished in large tracts of old-growth forests that were largely undisturbed by human development. Decades of logging, road-building and flooding from dams have taken their toll on mountain caribou. But where the old-growth forests mountain caribou need have been protected, mountain caribou numbers are stable or even increasing.

In September 2004 the BC Forest Practices Board (the BC government’s “independent watchdog for sound forest practices”) stated:

“The substantial and continuing decline in the mountain caribou population is serious and requires urgent government attention.... Government will need to make difficult decisions in the short and medium term on issues such as habitat conservation, predator/prey management and recreational access to demonstrate a serious commitment to mountain caribou recovery.”*

Since then the BC government’s Species at Risk Coordination Office has been working to “fast-track” mountain caribou recovery. The government has now received detailed recommendations from its mountain caribou science panel. These recommendations include protecting up to three million ha of mountain caribou habitat, and caribou-friendly management for two million more.

Government actions to date have reflected neither the urgency nor the needs highlighted by the Forest Practices Board and government and independent biologists. The government has known for decades about the impacts of continued industrial logging and motorized recreation in mountain caribou. Yet very little has happened on the ground to protect mountain caribou habitat. In fact logging activity has continued unabated, and commercial recreation tenures continue to be issued in mountain caribou habitat.

The time for action is now. The BC government must act immediately, on the recommendations of its own science panel, to recover all mountain caribou herds across their range.

Recovery can only be accomplished by protecting, restoring and reconnecting critical mountain caribou habitat, and by establishing enforceable standards for motorized recreation and commercial recreation tenures. Smaller herds may need to be bolstered with animals transplanted from healthier herds. Finally, predator management, a very controversial activity, should only occur where adequate habitat is protected and then only with full consideration of all impacts.

*Mountain Caribou in British Columbia: Last Chance for Conservation? BC Forest Practices Board, Sept, 2004.