UWR | u-9-002 | Northern Caribou u-9-002 SPC-018 Chinook Rige Low Elevation Winter Range
Region: Peace
Legal under OGAA: Yes
Legal under FRPA: Yes
General Wildlife Measures
no mainline roads. Secondary roads to use existing disturbance.
Limited impacts to forest cover
Established as low elevation winter range to maintain large unfragmented (road-less) habitat for caribou.
Limit roads (secondary/seasonal)
Limit impacts to forest cover.
Minimize disturbance in winter period (Nov01-Apr30) critical activity to be completed early winter (Nov01-Jan30).
Maintain large road-less unfragmented forest areas associated with arboreal and terrestrial lichen.
Prevent disturbances that increase predator mobility, increase human access and attract other ungulate species.
Reduce sensory disturbances and displacement of caribou.
Avoid:
a. Peatlands complexes
b. Fens and black spruce bogs
c. Complex water bodies
d. Mature black spruce stands (lichen)
e. Lichen bearing stands
Planning Measures:
Secondary roads only
Road construction to the lowest possible standard as long as safety elements are met.
Low impact, low maintenance winter roads are considered appropriate and preferred
Use existing disturbance corridors to minimize construction of new access
Limit impacts to forest cover.
Maintain large leave areas >600ha and forest movement trails/connectivity between leave.
Cluster activity to minimize fragmentation.
Minimize predator mobility and attractants
- Avoid linear disturbance
- Apply a 250m buffer around natural meadows and openings
- Do not cross meadows, wetlands or RMA
Minimize impacts to lichen by avoiding pine leading forest stands (>50yrs old)
Operational Measures:
Critical activity to be completed early winter (Nov01-Jan30).
Prevent sensory disturbance and displacement of caribou
Minimize predator mobility and attractants
- Provide visual screening along corridors
- Minimize snow ploughing
- No seeding grass and legumes that attract ungulates.
Minimize impacts to lichen:
- use snow cover and frozen ground to improve lichen survival and regeneration
- retain trees for dispersal of lichen
Mitigate and restore:
- Control access to limit human/predator use
- Manage for line of sight (screens/doglegs)
- Promptly deactivate access
Encourage natural regeneration by distributing coarse woody debris, mounding, seeding/planting (native species) and controlling
- Large intact peatland complexes, fens and black spruce bogs, and complex water bodies function as calving habitat allowing for caribou to disperse widely and calve in isolation away from predators.
- Overwinter in low-elevation pine-lichen stands (especially mature spruce stands on sunny aspects) or high elevation on wind-swept alpine ridges.
- Calve at high elevations, migrating to subalpine ridges.
- Within winter range, maintain pine-lichen forests.
- Within calving areas, maintain peatland complexes, fens and black spruce bogs.
- Manage for predator/prey relations by limiting fragmentation and managing for line of sight.
All Activities
- Identify key habitat features using appropriate measures (i.e., QP direction, desktop review, field confirmation, etc) and plan activities within the operating area accordingly.
- Plan oil and gas activities to avoid pine-lichen forest stands as these areas are important habitat for winter foraging by Northern Caribou. Attributes associated with pine-lichen forest stands: 25-55% crown closure, 50-110 years of age, pine 7-17m in height, a site index <13 (height less than 13m at 50 years of age), a duff layer <5cm.
- Plan location of activities such as wellsites, facility sites and all-weather roads outside of calving habitat.
- Time works such that they occur outside of the critical timing window.
- Apply the appropriate survey and setback requirements for WHFs within identified habitat. (Refer to section 1.9 of the EPMG for additional guidance on WHFs).
Linear Features (seismic, roads, pipelines)
Roads:
- Avoid creating access into calving habitat and winter foraging areas.
Seismic:
- Plan the use of existing disturbance where possible.
- Minimize the number of wetland crossings
All Activities
- Undertake construction and operation of oil and gas activities in a manner that minimizes impacts to desired plant communities and key habitat features.
- Time activities during frozen ground conditions when there is sufficient snow cover to avoid ground disturbance and protect terrestrial lichen.
- Promote natural regeneration to pre-disturbance ecosystem and avoid artificial seeding of grass and legume based mixes as these attract primary prey species (moose and elk) and subsequently increased predators (wolf).
Timing considerations when working within identified habitat:
- When working within identified habitat, avoid disturbance and/or clearing activities in peatland complexes, fens and black spruce bogs, and complex water bodies during the calving period May 1 to June 30.
- Where an application area is within a NEBC UWR or WHA for Northern Caribou, please refer to the EIMS summary for that Order. Proponents are required to adhere to the guidance provided in that summary, including any relevant timing considerations.
Linear Features
All
- Avoid creation of linear features within known birthing areas.
- Upon completion of the activity, undertake the following measures to encourage re-establishment of the pre-disturbance ecological trajectory:
- deactivate unnecessary access corridors,
- undertake measures to control access,
- promote natural or assisted regeneration.
Roads:
- Minimize snow ploughing of access route to reduce predator use.
- Where snow ploughing is necessary and roadside snow berms reach greater than 1.5m in height, create breaks in snow berms.
Seismic and Pipelines:
- Retain breaks in pipe section, soil stockpile and windrows