Conservationists say land-use plan will decimate at-risk caribou herds in northwestern Alberta

A caribou can be seen in this undated photo from Parks Canada. (Parks Canada)

Conservationists say a new land-use plan from the province stands to “wipe out” two vulnerable caribou populations in northwestern Alberta.

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The Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) released a joint-statement on Wednesday decrying the proposed Upper Smoky Sub-regional Plan.

The plan will cover an area north of Jasper National Park along the B.C. border, up to near Grande Prairie.

It includes the harvesting of timber in caribou ranges, as well as the expansion of oil and gas production in the region, something the plan said is in line with Alberta’s goal to double energy production.

“The timber harvest proposed in the draft Upper Smoky Sub-regional Plan would allow (U.S.-based company) Weyerhaeuser to clearcut the remaining critical winter habitat and eliminate the ability of these caribou to annually migrate to the foothill’s forests,” the joint statement read.

“Southern mountain caribou require old forests which are relatively undisturbed by human developments. Large portions of the winter range of these caribou populations have already been logged,” it continued. “The cumulative effects of all industrial developments have created landscape disturbances which currently exceed what is required by caribou populations.”

Caribou are a threatened species in Alberta, and a 2024 caribou report from the province shows most populations have “demonstrated substantial declines.”

Only three southern mountain populations remain in the province, and the groups say the current draft plan poses a great risk to two of them – the Red Rock Prairie Creek and Narraway caribou groups.

The report shows that Red Rock Prairie Creek caribou winter ranges are less than 30 per cent undisturbed habitat, and that both the Red Rock and Narraway groups have both seen dramatic declines and reduced annual migration due to habitat loss, as well as increased mortality from increasingly spending winters in the mountains.

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To help halt caribou declines, the province has increased wolf reduction programs. However, critics have said environmental restoration is more important to herds than killing wolves.

“This Upper Smoky Draft Sub-regional Plan proposes to further accelerate timber harvest in the last of the core winter range. The result will be the extinction of the two caribou populations,” said Kirby Smith, a retired Government of Alberta biologist and member of the Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society.

“Perpetual wolf control will do nothing to protect caribou from avalanches if they are forced to winter in alpine summer range and if there is no plan to conserve the remaining caribou habitat.”

A Caribou Task Force (including members from CPAWS and the AWA) was assembled to discuss the regional plan between 2019 and 2021. Those groups say the recommendations they made have not been reflected in the proposed land-use plan.

“The plan doesn’t even list caribou recovery as an objective and would approve the clearcutting of nearly all remaining forests in the caribou’s winter range,” said Tara Russell, program director for CPAWS Northern Alberta.

“It is devastating that stakeholders from task force meetings honourably dedicated so much time to recommending measures to recover the caribou populations, only to receive a plan that will assure extinction.”

CTV News Edmonton reached out to Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schultz for comment.

Her press secretary Ryan Fournier said the plan is not final and the draft materials are designed to generate input and feedback from those most impacted.

“We are working to strike the right balance to protect our environment while keeping people working,” Fournier said. “Once engagement is complete, we will review what we heard and will use it to inform our finalized plan.”

Outcomes of the plan do include caribou habitat management in terms of land-use, providing certainty for operators within caribou range and management of activities in proposed conservation areas.

The plan also includes new and expanded conservation areas, including alpine and sub-alpine habitats in the Caw Ridge and Sulphur Ridge areas, based on their importance to caribou and other endangered and threatened species.

“The proposal to create these conservation areas should be applauded,” the group said. “We note, however, the proposed conservation areas do not comprise caribou winter range and those areas will not, in and of themselves, adequately provide for caribou conservation or recovery.”

An online public survey on the new plan opened on the Government of Alberta website on Thursday. It will be open until June 25.