Identified Wildlife Management Strategy
- Background
The Forest Practices Code of British Columbia has as one of its goals the conservation
of British Columbia's biological diversity. Implementation of the Code's biodiversity
and riparian provisions covers habitat protection and management for the majority
of wildlife species. But it has always been recognized that some species would
require additional special habitat management to ensure the survival of their
populations across their natural ranges. Volume 1 of the Identified Wildlife
Management Strategy details the procedures and management practices that are
mandatory for Identified Wildlife under the Code.
Volume 1 of the Identified Wildlife Strategy is comprised of two companion
documents: Species and Plant Community Accounts for Identified Wildlife
and Managing Identified Wildlife: Procedures and Measures.
It contains 36 species and four plant communities (see Appendix A). The Province
will start compiling a list of Identified Wildlife for Volume 2 in April 1999.
For the most part, the species and plant communities listed in Identified Wildlife
are considered to be at risk (endangered, threatened or vulnerable) and require
special management of critical habitats in order to maintain or restore populations
or distributions. Critical habitats include breeding, denning or feeding sites.
For example, breeding sites for ancient murrelets are considered critical, or
limiting, as this species returns to the same area each year, breeds in undisturbed
old forest and requires freedom from most predators.
The mechanisms to manage Identified Wildlife under the code are, wildlife habitat
areas, general wildlife measures and higher level plan recommendations.
Wildlife habitat areas contain critical habitat elements for
one or more species of Identified Wildlife. These
areas are mapped and approved by
the chief forester (Ministry of Forests) and deputy minister
(Ministry of Environment).
General wildlife measures direct what forest and range management practices
can occur within a wildlife habitat area. They may restrict forest or range
activities during sensitive periods (e.g., the breeding season) to minimize
disturbance or may restrict activities entirely within an area in order to maintain
the integrity of the habitat. This strategy will be implemented as wildlife
habitat areas are identified and mapped, their locations are made known to licencees
and this information is incorporated into forest development plans. As with
wildlife habitat areas the general wildlife measures are approved by the chief
forester (MOF) and deputy minister (MELP).
Higher level plans that relate to Identified Wildlife are Resource Management
Zones (RMZ) that are approved by the code ministers (Minister of Environment,
Lands and Parks; Minister of Forests; and the Minister of Energy and Mines).
These zones are defined in the code and typically are a product of Regional
Land Use Plans and Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMP). At this time the
government has recommended that three species from Volume 1 (grizzly bear, fisher
and bull trout) be considered in higher level plans because of the scope of
their habitat needs.
The Identified Wildlife Management Strategy is designed to have a timber supply
impact of one per cent.
Appendix A
List of Identified Wildlife
36 species/subspecies and four plant communities have
been designated as Identified Wildlife (Vol. I).
Animal species/subspecies:
- American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus
- American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
- Ancient Murrelet Synthliboramphus antiquus
- "California" Bighorn Sheep - californiana
subspeciesOvis canadensis californiana
- "Rocky Mountain" Bighorn Sheep - canadensis
subspeciesOvis canadensis canadensis
- Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus
- "Sagebrush" Brewer's Sparrow - breweri
subspeciesSpizella breweri breweri
- Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus
- Cassin's Auklet Ptychoramphus aleuticus
- Ferruginous Hawk Buteo regalis
- Fisher Martes pennanti
- "Great Basin" Gopher Snake - deserticola
subspeciesPituophis catenifer deserticola
- Grasshopper Sparrow Ammodramus savannarum
- Grizzly Bear Ursus arctos
- Keen's Long-eared Myotis Myotis keenii
- Lewis's Woodpecker Melanerpes lewis
- Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
- Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus
- Mountain Beaver - rainieri subspeciesAplodontia
rufa rainieri
- Mountain Beaver - rufa subspeciesAplodontia
rufa rufa
- Mountain Goat Oreamnos americanus
- Night Snake Hypsiglena torquata
- Northern Goshawk - atricapillus subspeciesAccipiter
gentilis atricapillus
- "Queen Charlotte" Northern Goshawk - laingi
subspeciesAccipiter gentilis laingi
- Pacific Water Shrew Sorex bendirii
- Prairie falcon Falco mexicanus
- Racer Coluber constrictor
- Rubber Boa Charina bottae
- Sage Thrasher Oreoscoptes montanus
- Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis
- Tailed Frog Ascaphus truei
- Trumpeter Swan Cygnus buccinator
- Vancouver Island Marmot Marmota vancouverensis
- Western grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis
- White-headed Woodpecker Picoides albolarvatus
- Yellow-breasted Chat Icteria virens
Plant Communities:
- Douglas-fir/Garry oak - oniongrass
Pseudotsuga menziesii/Quercus garryana - Melica subulata
- Ponderosa pine - black cottonwood - Nootka rose - poison ivy
Pinus ponderosa - Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa - Rhus radicans
- Ponderosa pine - black cottonwood - snowberry
Pinus ponderosa - Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa - Symphoricarpos
albus
- Water birch - red-osier dogwood
Betula occidentalis - Cornus stolonifera
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