Wildlife Habitat Area | 9-153
Region: Peace
Legal under OGAA: Yes
Legal under FRPA: Yes
General Wildlife Measures
No new roads or linear features
No impact to forest cover
No disturbance to caribou April1-June 30
To protect and conserve northern mountain caribou and the habitat of northern mountain caribou
To prevent new access and linear corridors
Use existing linear corridors or disturbance
Construct access to the lowest standard possible (whilst considering safety)
No disturbance to caribou April1-June 30
To limit predator mobility and attractants
To prevent impacts to terrestrial and arboreal lichen.
To retain critical habitat including:
- peatland complexes
- fens and black spruce bogs
- complex water bodies
- lichen bearing stands
- terrestrial lichen mats
- windswept ridges
Planning Measures:
Qualified Professionals have site specific discretion and flexibility in prescribing methods to achieve desired habitat condition.
No new access or linear corridors.
Use existing disturbance
No removal of forest cover
Minimize impacts to lichen and caribou habitat
- Retain mature and old seral stage forest (>120yr)
Operational Measures:
No disturbance to caribou April1-June 30
No disturbance to caribou during sensitive periods (pre-calving, post calving (April1-June30) and rutting periods Sept15-Oct31))
Construct access to the lowest standard possible (whilst considering safety)
Minimize predator mobility and attractants:
- Minimize snow ploughing of access routes
- Provide visual screening along roads
- Manage for line of sight
- Minimize growth of early seral forage on clearings
Minimize impacts to lichen and caribou habitat
- use snow cover and frozen ground to improve lichen survival and regeneration
- retain trees for dispersal of lichen
- avoid impacts to natural drainage patterns
- avoid altering surface hydrology and flow patterns
Promote regeneration of natural, preharvest ecosystems.
Avoid seeding of grass and legume based mixes.
- 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