Federal Government Releases Proposed Recovery Strategy For Woodland Caribou

In 2003, Woodland Caribou, Boreal population, were listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act (SARA).1 On August 26, 2011, the federal Minister of Environment (MOE) released the Proposed Recovery Strategy for the Woodland Caribou.2 The Proposed Recovery Strategy identifies the critical habitat of 57 local populations of Woodland Caribou in seven provinces and two territories across Canada.

The Proposed Recovery Strategy, which is open for public comment until October 25, 2011, is summarized below.

The Proposed Recovery Strategy

According to the Proposed Recovery Strategy, the recovery of Woodland Caribou is technically and biologically feasible across the species' ranges. The primary threat to most Woodland Caribou local populations is identified as unnaturally high predation rates as a result of habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, which threat can purportedly be avoided or mitigated through coordinated land use planning and habitat restoration and management, in conjunction with predator management where local population conditions warrant such action.

The 57 local populations of Woodland Caribou identified in the Proposed Recovery Strategy are classified as falling into one of the following three categories:

1. Self-sustaining (17 local populations);

2. Not self-sustaining and identified as connectivity populations (12 local populations); and

3. Not self-sustaining but not identified as connectivity populations (28 local populations).

   Of the 12 local populations identified in Alberta, none fall into the first category as self-sustaining, five fall into the second category,3 and seven fall into the third category.4

   For the first category populations (the 17 self-sustaining local populations), critical habitat is identified as 65 percent of the undisturbed habitat within the range of the local population. Accordingly, land use will not be permitted to the extent it results in the reduction of undisturbed habitat to a number below 65 percent. However, as discussed below, while the identified critical habitat includes both federal and provincial lands, the restrictions regarding development on Crown lands under the SARA only apply on federal lands, without further action being taken by the federal government.

   For the second category populations (the 12 local populations prioritized to recover to self-sustaining levels, in order to maintain a connected population of caribou), critical habitat is identified as the existing...