General wildlife measures

These measures must be applied within a WHA approved for the species. Access Do not develop roads or trails unless the district manager and regional fish and wildlife manager are satisifed there is no other practicable option and the variance is approved by the district manager and regional fish and wildlife manager. Range Avoid grazing within WHAs by providing alternative water, forage and salt licks. If there is no other practicable option to avoid grazing, fencing may be required. Consult MELP for appropriate fencing arrangements. Do not seed WHAs with agricultural mixes unless the mix is entirely composed of species native to the area. Recreation Do not develop recreational sites or trails. Silviculture Do not conduct any forest practices.

Management considerations (not mandatory)

Efforts should be made to preserve and restore natural flood cycles that have historically maintained this community. Areas adjacent to a WHA should be managed in a manner that has the least effect on the vegetation, soils and hydrology within the WHA.

Landscape unit planning considerations (not mandatory)

Wildlife habitat areas will serve the dual purpose of providing over-representation of rare ecosystems in the portion of a landscape unit set aside for representation, and contributing to old forest retention objectives in a landscape unit, as recommended in the Biodiversity Guidebook. It is not necessary for every WHA to be part of the connecting fabric of a landscape unit, but every attempt should be made to connect WHAs with other reserved areas.

Cross references

Rubber boa, yellow-bellied racer, night snake, gopher snake, ferruginous hawk, Lewis's woodpecker

Water birch-red-osier dogwood (Betula occidentalis-Cornus stolonifera)

WHA planning objectives

Maintain 30% of the original extent of this plant community type in a natural state. In this context, "natural" means that the plant community has few non-native plants, has not been disturbed by human activity, and cycles freely through successional stages in response to natural disturbances such as flooding.

Wildlife habitat area

Thirty percent of the original extent of this community should be designated as WHAs, including all remaining occurrences. WHAs should include the entire community occurrence and a 250 m buffer zone around the occurrence.

Preference should be given to sites in the following order:

• sites that contain remnants of this plant community and have the same physical characteristics as sites where this community currently exists
• sites in areas where this plant community type has been severely depleted
• sites that are adjacent to natural occurrences of this (or another) community
• sites that could become part of an area used for connectivity at the landscape level.

GWM management objectives

Maintain WHAs in a natural state. In this context, "natural" means that the plant community has very few non-native plant species, has not been disturbed by human activity, and cycles freely through successional stages in response to natural disturbances such as flooding. The Ministry of Forests' plant association classification can be used as an approximation of the expected natural species composition of ecosystems (at climax), with the exception of non-native plants.

The natural hydrological regime of these WHAs is fundamental to their ecology, and should be maintained or restored to its natural state.

Prevent soil compacting and overgrazing.

General wildlife measures

These measures must be applied within a WHA approved for the species. Access Do not develop roads or trails unless the district manager and regional fish and wildlife manager are satisifed there is no other practicable option and the variance is approved by the district manager and regional fish and wildlife manager. Range Avoid grazing within WHAs by providing alternative water, forage and salt licks. If there is no other practicable option to avoid grazing, fencing may be required. Consult MELP for appropriate fencing arrangements. Do not seed WHAs with agricultural mixes unless the mix is entirely composed of species native to the area. Recreation Do not develop recreational sites or trails. Silviculture Do not conduct any forest practices.

Management considerations (not mandatory)

Efforts should be made to preserve and restore natural flood cycles that have historically maintained this community. Manage around WHAs in a manner that has the least effect on the vegetation, soils and hydrology within the WHA.

Landscape unit planning considerations (not mandatory)

Wildlife habitat areas will serve the dual purpose of providing over-representation of rare ecosystems in the portion of a landscape unit set aside for representation, and contributing to old forest retention objectives in a landscape unit, as recommended in the Biodiversity Guidebook. It is not necessary for every WHA to be part of the connecting fabric of a landscape unit, but every attempt should be made to connect WHAs with other reserved areas.

Cross references

Rubber boa, yellow-bellied racer, gopher snake, yellow-breasted chat