Wildlife Guidelines for Backcountry Tourism/Commercial Recreation

Defaults

Distances are included in desired behaviours as “defaults.” Defaults are distances that, in the absence of other mitigating actions, should be sufficient to prevent alarm responses by animals. These distances are precautionary and are based on professional interpretation of the scientific and management literature. The defaults may change over time as more information becomes available.

The advantage of default distances is that they are easy to follow and require no additional operational planning. The disadvantage is that they are restrictive and might not be appropriate under all circumstances. Defaults might be overly precautionary or, conversely, insufficient to prevent alarm responses of animals. Operators are expected to respect default approach distances unless an operational strategy is in place. An operational strategy can be based on the guidelines matrix, but should also consider site-specific considerations. The strategy should include the following:

• Desired behaviours designed to achieve the same Results (e.g., minimize physiological and behavioural changes in animals);
• A monitoring plan to determine whether the alternative desired behaviours are achieving Results;
• An adaptive management strategy to adjust behaviours according to the outcomes observed by monitoring.

Operators should engage a qualified professional to help them develop the operational strategy.