Wildlife

Roles

Branch

1. develop regulations, policy and procedures that govern wildlife conservation in managed forest landscapes

2. provide technical information and advice to staff, licensees, public

3. conduct research in support of policy and program development

4. participate in implementation of FRPA mechanisms and tools

5. monitor effectiveness of FRPA mechanisms and tools

6. provide technical expertise to recovery planning for species at risk

Region

• 2 to 6 as above

District

• 4 to 6 above

• review Forest Stewardship Plans for wildlife values

Licensee

• 4, 6 above

• develop Forest Stewardship Plans for wildlife values

Meet the Staff

• Contact Laura Darling, Wildlife Conservation Ecologist, on the wildlife conservation program.  Peter Bradford and Ian Miller are the Managers under whom this program falls. Diane Medves, Branch Director, sits on the federal-provincial Species at Risk Coordinating Committee.

• Other contributors to wildlife conservation

  • Wildlife research program staff of Forest Science Branch, including Evelyn Hamilton, Bruce McLellan, Don Morgan, (http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/ecoearth/wildl.htm)

  • Operations Division staff in all three regions, including:

    • NI Region – Laura Blonski (Range), Dale Seip, Doug Steventon

    • SI Region –Rick Tucker (Range), Jeff Stone, Walt Klenner,  Harry Jennings, Leith McKenzie, Harold Armleder, Larry Hanlon.

    • Coast Region – Louise Waterhouse, Melissa Todd, Jim Brown, Sean Muise.

Links

• Wildlife Conservation under FRPA

  • Objectives for wildlife under FRPA relate to the survival of species at risk and the winter survival of ungulate wildlife species. Wildlife conservation activities to meet the objectives for wildlife values described in FRPA are led by Ministry of the Environment. MFR has a key role in advising and consulting on, as well as implementing wildlife objectives.

• Species at Risk and the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy

  • The Identified Wildlife Management Strategy was developed jointly with Ministry of Environment (MOE) and MFR will continue to participate in updates. A total of 85 species are currently addressed, covering most of the taxonomic groups as species at risk. The policy is implemented through the establishment of Wildlife Habitat Areas. MFR consults and advises through provincial committee work and directly to the MOE decision maker as proposals are evaluated. The following are links to the MOE web page:

    • Identified Wildlife Management Strategy (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/iwms/iwms.html)

    • Species at Risk
      Wildlife Habitat Areas (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/iwms/wha.html)

The Ungulate Winter Range policy was developed cooperatively under a Memorandum of Understanding with MOE. It addresses the habitat needs for winter survival of deer, elk, moose, caribou, wild sheep, and mountain goat. The policy is implemented through the establishment of Ungulate Winter Ranges. MFR consults and advises the MOE decision maker as proposals are evaluated.

• Ungulate Winter Range Policy

MFR and MOE participate jointly under the FREP program to evaluate the effectiveness of the above FRPA wildlife conservation tools at maintaining wildlife habitat and species across their natural ranges and over time in British Columbia. 

• FRPA Resource Evaluation Program Wildlife Page describes the conservation tools and priority questions

• Effectiveness evaluation for wildlife in British Columbia under the Forest and Range Practices Act

MFR participates in recovery planning for species at risk under the mandate of the federal Species at Risk Act. MFR provides consultation on federal status assessments for species at risk (for both COSEWIC and SARA Schedule 1) and helps coordinate the federal/ provincial approach to for the approval and implementation of recovery plans. The following links describe the federal and provincial legislation and conservation measures related to recovery of species at risk.

• Species at Risk Public Registry

• Recovery Planning in British Columbia

• Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada

Contributing toward the conservation of the endangered Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystem has remained a special project in the wildlife program based on the scientific expertise of staff. More information about this ecosystem can be found at:

http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/garryoak.pdf

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/becweb/resources/classificationreports/garryoak/index.html

http://www.goert.ca/

Stand Level Biodiversity / Wildlife Trees

The natural diversity of wildlife communities reflects the diversity of habitats and micro-habitats available in a forest stand and across the landscape. Stand level biodiversity is believed to be protected by maintenance of stand level structural characteristics, such as percent and character of wildlife trees and coarse woody debris. The following links provide guidance for operational and monitoring activities related to maintenance of stand level biodiversity.

• FRPA Resource Evaluation Program Wildlife Page

  • Contact Nancy Densmore on stand level wildlife biodiversity programs

• Wildlife Tree Committee

• For general information about wildlife and other provincial government programs for wildlife conservation, go to the MOE Ecosystems Branch web page

  • Biodiversity Branch Home Page

Publications

Many of our project publications are available on the Wildlife Resource Value Team webpage of the FREP site:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/frep/values/wildlife.htm

Here reports can be found on effectiveness evaluation for the wildlife resource value, including:

• summaries of our approach

• Great Basin gopher snake

• Rocky Mountain tailed frog

• Badger

• White Headed Woodpecker

• Caribou

• Mule Deer

• Mountain Goat

Specific Citations:

Erickson, W.R. 2008 (in press). Results and Data from an Ecological Study of Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) Ecosystems in Southwestern British Columbia: B.C. Ministry of Forests Technical Report TR043. Online: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Tr/Tr043.htm 

Erickson, W.R., and D. Meidinger 2007. Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) Plant Communities in British Columbia: A Guide to Identification. B.C. Ministry of Forests Technical Report TR040. Online: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Tr/Tr040.htm

Erickson, W.R., S. Guy, J. Hobbs, J. Hoyt, J.B. Nyberg, and K. Paige 2005. Development and implementation of the provincial Identified Wildlife Management Strategy in British Columbia, Canada. In: Species at Risk 2004: Pathways to Recovery Conference Proceedings, E.G. Lofroth and T.D. Hooper, editors. Online (Accessed October 12, 2005): erickson_edited_final_feb_7.pdf

British Columbia Ministry of Forests, 2005. Preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of wildlife tree retention on cutblocks harvested between 1999 and 2001 under the Forest Practices Code. BC Ministry of Forests, Forest Practices Branch, Victoria, B.C. FREP Series 002: Online (accessed Feb.1, 2008): http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/frep/publications/reports.htm#rep02

Erickson, W.R., K. Paige, R. Thompson, and L. Blight 2004. Effectiveness evaluation for wildlife in British Columbia under the Forest and Range Practices Act. Monitoring the Effectiveness of Biological Conservation conference, 2-4 November 2004, Richmond, BC. Online (Accessed May 8, 2007): http://www.forrex.org/events/mebc/PDF/Part4-1.pdf.

Erickson, Wayne 2003. Antelope brush – bluebunch wheatgrass in the East Kootenay-Rocky Mountain Trench region of British Columbia. Pp.19-27 in: Seaton, Robert, editor Proceedings Ecosystems at Risk: Antelope Brush Restoration, March 28-30, 2003. Osoyoos. Society for Ecological Restoration, BC Chapter. Online (Accessed Feb.1, 2008): http://www.ser.org/serbc/pdf/antelope_brush_restoration.pdf

Erickson, Wayne 2003. Garry oak pocket grasslands: Among the most endangered landscapes. BC Grasslands February: 14-15. Online (Accessed July 25, 2006): http://www.bcgrasslands.org/SiteCM/U/D/898FBA482D8A8591.pdf

Erickson, W.R., 2002: Environmental relationships of Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) communities at their northern margin. pp. 179-190 in: Standiford, R.D., D.McCreary and K.L. Purcell, technical coordinators. Proceedings of the fifth symposium on oak woodlands: Oaks in California’s changing landscape. Oct. 22-24, 2001. San Diego, California. United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station General Technical Report PSW-GTR-184. Albany, California. On-line (Accessed Feb. 6, 2007): http://danr.ucop.edu/ihrmp/proceed/erickson.pdf

Erickson, W.R.. 2000. Birds of the Garry oak habitat in British Columbia. British Columbia Birds 10: 5-12. Online (Accessed April 7, 2006): http://bcfo.ca/publications/bcbirds-articles/vol_10/Erickson-2000.pdf

Current Research Initiatives (underway, in addition to those above)

• Badger Wildlife Habitat Area identification, East and West Kootenays and Thompson-Okanagan regions

• Badger Conservation Assessment, Badger Recovery Team, Science Recovery Implementation Group (RIG)

• Northern Goshawk (laingii subspecies) habitat and population modelling and parameter development, Northern Goshawk Recovery Team, Habitat RIG

• Garry oak Plant Communities chapter for Garry oak Ecosystem Recovery Team Compendium

Back to the Forest Practices Branch Home Page

Contact Tim Ebata if you have comments on the presentation of this information.

BC Ministry of Forests and Range
Forest Practices Branch
P.O. Box 9513 Stn. Prov. Gov.
Victoria, BC
V8W 9C2

Section phone: (250) 387-8739
Section fax: (250) 387-2136