Wildlife Habitat Area | 9-118
Region: Peace
Legal under OGAA: Yes
Legal under FRPA: Yes
General Wildlife Measures
No roads and no impacts to forest cover.
Established to conserve and protect Connecticut Warbler and their habitat.
No new access structure
No impacts to forest cover or structure
Maintain
Mature and old growth aspen, trembling aspen, deciduous trees
Lush herbs and low understory
Key herb and forb species
Patch size no less than 4ha.
Structural character of mature/old forest
Avoid disturbance during breeding season May01-Jul31. Delay activity till August.
Planning Measures:
Do not construct roads, trails or access.
No impacts to forest cover.
No water structures or dugouts
Avoid Connecticut Warbler habitat when planning activity:
- Mature and old deciduous forest (esp. aspen/trembling aspen >40 years old)
- Herb/forb communities (tall bluebell, geranium, rose, timothy, wildrye, paintbrush, fireweed and bunchberry)
- Low shrub communities (rose, willow, baneberry, red-osier and dogwood)
- Intact forested areas
- Tree canopy with lush understory and complex structural character
Operational Measures:
Minimize disturbance during breeding season May01-July31. Plan activity for after July31
Do not use pesticides except for spot application of herbicide to control invasive plants or noxious weeds outside of breeding season (May 1 – July 31).
Maintain plant community of old growth aspen forests, including the herbaceous
- Mature and old deciduous forest (especially aspen and trembling aspen) with richly vegetated understory.
- Vegetated understory consists of: tall bluebell, white geranium, baneberry, rose, northern bedstraw, red-osier dogwood, willow, bluegrass, wildrye, timothy, paintbrush, junegrass, bunchberry, soopolallie, fireweed, American vetch, purple peavine, and spruce interspersed through the stand.
- Nesting and foraging occurs on or very near the ground.
- Intact forested areas >5ha, and tree canopy with lush understory and complex structural character.
- Minimize disturbance during the breeding season.
- Maintain nesting habitat throughout all seasons.
- Maintain desired plant communities and key habitat features.
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.
- Within identified habitat, ensure that proposed activities maintain the occurrence of unfragmented mature forest patches >5ha.
- Time works such that they occur outside of the critical timing window.
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.
Timing considerations when working within identified habitat:
- Avoid disturbance and/or clearing activities during the critical timing window from June 1 to July 31.
- Where an application area is within a NEBC WHA for Connecticut Warbler, 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.
ABA Guidance
Only activities with no locational flexibility, or no alternate routing, should be considered within these WHA.
Applications require a Mitigation Strategy
Avoidance is expected for all activities as these areas are (1) sensitive to edges, fragmentation and noise and (2) already have significant disturbance.
Applications will be subject to an Enhanced Review Process
Applications require a Mitigation Strategy