Boreal Caribou habitat expansion proposed in Northern B.C.
The Ministry of Water, Land and Resources Stewardship has sent a Letter of Notice to the Peace River Regional District about several upcoming projects in the Fort Nelson, Peace District and Fort St. John areas.
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The Ministry of Water, Land and Resources Stewardship has sent a Letter of Notice to the Peace River Regional District about several upcoming projects in the Fort Nelson, Peace District and Fort St. John areas.
The letter was reviewed by the board of directors during the August 15th regional meeting, and outlined a proposal from the province to establish new wildlife habitat areas for Boreal Caribou.
These would be established under the Forest and Range Practices Act, Government Actions Regulations (GAR) and the Boreal Caribou Protection and Recovery Plan.
Consultations with First Nations and impacted tenure holders have been ongoing since July by the Ministry.
Six areas in the Fort Nelson region are being assessed, including Calendar, Maxhamish, Snake Sahtahneh North, Muskwa, Hay River Shekilie and Westside Fort Nelson North.
Two areas in the Peace River Regional District and Fort St. John Timber Supply Area, Westside Fort Nelson South and Snake Sahtahneh South are also being considered.
The areas were selected due to their significance to Boreal Caribou populations in British Columbia, and therefore redesignation of the regions would impact timber harvesting, range activities, pesticide use, silviculture and generalized public access.
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The Ministry also noted within the letter that public consultation with First Nations and impacted parties is important to the project, and encouraged the PRRD to reach out with them with any questions.
“It is WLRS’ intent, through the review and comment process, to elicit information from affected ministries, Indigenous Nations, industry and other interested parties that will assist the delegated decision maker when deliberating the tests outlined in the GAR,” The letter stated.
Public consultation is ongoing, and will continue until September 11th.
After a brief discussion about the importance of public consultation, a recommendation was made and passed to invite the Ministry to come and discuss the plan in more detail.
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