Province releases final plan for northeast B.C. caribou protections

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The province has decided to approve some but not all of its plans to protect boreal caribou in the northeast. 

According to a letter reviewed at the August 14th Peace River Regional District (PRRD) board of directors meeting, the province has made a mixed decision on proposed interim habitat protection efforts in northeast B.C. 

Following months of consultation, the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship has decided to approve adjustments to wildlife habitat areas of boreal caribou in the Fort Nelson region. The ministry has also decided to not approve changes which would have impacted the Fort St. John region. 

The PRRD received a delegation from the ministry in January, where a plan to support regional caribou herds was outlined for the directors. 

The Boreal Caribou Protection and Recovery Plan was created by the ministry in partnership with Fort Nelson First Nation and the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, and included protections to support four of the five caribou herds in the region. 

The support efforts include splitting approximately 1.6 million hectares of land into different “order units” to allow for “administrative flexibility.”

Following the ministry’s decision, a new, finalized plan was published in July, which includes a detailed plan for more than 15 years of support for regional caribou herds. 

The next steps of the project include new habitat protection measures through legislative and policy changes at the local and provincial level according to each individual unit’s needs. 

Industry-specific guidelines will also be enacted in the next five years and adjusted according to the program’s five-year adaptive management cycle. 

According to the ministry, under the Forest and Range Practices Act, some activities including forest harvest, building forest service roads and other activities will be restricted, while habitat restoration, wildlife enhancement activities and prescribed burning will be allowed.

The plan also includes exemption processes for activities such as post-wildfire salvage, pest control and other management activities on a case-by-case basis. 

To read the final version of Boreal Caribou Protection and Recovery Plan, see below.