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Vanishing Mountain Caribou Hit by B.C. Budget Cut PRIEST RIVER, Idaho, February 18, 2002 (ENS) - A remnant population of just 35 caribou inhabits the Selkirk Mountains of southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho, and northeastern Washington. Threats include habitat degradation and fragmentation, predation by wolves, mountain lions, and bears, as well as human disturbance. Guy Bailey and his compatriots at the grassroots Selkirk Conservation Alliance in Priest River were optimistic for the future of the endangered mountain caribou in British Columbia and Idaho after a meeting earlier this year in Spokane, Washington. At the International Mountain Caribou Technical Committee meeting, B.C. officials had promised to bolster the tiny caribou herd in the province's South Purcell mountains by bringing in more caribou from other herds. But that was before January 17 when British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell announced a budget reduction that will cut 3,300 full time workers from provincial government departments over the next three years. The herd augmentation of South Purcell caribou was cancelled for this year, according to Guy Woods of the B.C. Wildlife Branch. The cancellation also kills an alternative plan to add some more caribou to the South Selkirks herd any time soon. Bailey said, "The South Purcell's caribou herd has suffered the biggest, most severe population collapse of any of the 11 mountain caribou populations left in British Columbia. Even though the 'mystery' of this herd's unexplained and dramatic population crash has not been solved or really even properly addressed, augmentation of this herd was supposedly a top priority for this winter. This, of course, was prior to the economic downturns and government department cuts suffered in B.C."
To try to create a stable, self-sustaining population of the caribou in the United States, the International Mountain Caribou Technical Committee was formed several years ago. The committee helps coordinate caribou recovery efforts of, among others, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the B.C. Ministry of Environment. British Columbia is a partner in the recovery efforts because the health and habitats of their southern caribou herds are suffering. Another important player in this whole project, says Bailey, is Washington State University's Department of Natural Resource Sciences. One way the involved agencies have tried to enhance and restore the U.S. herds is to implement a herd augmentation project. Under this program, healthy caribou are captured during the winter in central British Columbia and shipped down to the United States to be added to U.S. herds. The mortality rate of caribou after augmentation still keeps the herds from attaining self-sustaining levels. The Selkirk Conservation Alliance hopes that augmentation attempts will be continued until the herds reach healthy and safe levels. But lumber producers in British Columbia have been opposed to any caribou augmentation effort for the mountains of south central or southeastern B.C. "because the caribou need the same ancient forest habitat coveted by these timber producers," Bailey said. He wonders whether it is the economic downturn or the timber producers' opposition that is behind the B.C. decision to halt the augmentation for this year. In Idaho, mountain caribou are found in the southern Selkirk Mountains. They are the most endangered large mammal in the United States and are listed under the Endangered Species Act as a protected species. Other than a herd of about 13 animals just over the border in Washington's Colville National Forest, Idaho has the only free roaming mountain caribou herd in the United States. The caribou found in Alaska are barren ground caribou - a different ecotype than the mountain caribou. Santa's familiar reindeer is also a different ecotype. Mountain caribou were once found in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Montana, and also in the New England states of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Historically, mountain caribou were once found in Idaho as far south as the Salmon River. Today, because of habitat destruction from development and logging, hunting and poaching and natural predation, those herds have disappeared. In northern Idaho, the mountain caribou is in extreme danger of extirpation due to the same threats. Canada's federal agency, Environment Canada calls the same animal the woodland caribou and classifies it as a "borderline" subspecies because its survival is in doubt. In Canada, woodland caribou herds generally remain in mature forest areas, often near marshes, bogs, lakes, and rivers.
In mountainous environments, caribou inhabit subalpine and alpine areas. In the United States, the Selkirk population inhabits high elevation ridges and mountainsides, descending in early winter to mature and old growth cedar/hemlock and spruce/fir forests which provide protection from the snow. In many parts of the caribou range on both sides of the border, caribou habitat has been depleted, altered, or fragmented by logging practices, which reduce the amount of ground and tree lichens. Other threats include hunting, agriculture, oil and gas exploration, and mining. Forest fires have also contributed to habitat alteration. This year's herd augmentation setback has not deterred the Selkirk Conservation Alliance. The small, grassroots group hopes to start up a national campaign that it says will focus on "the plight of these terribly endangered, noble animals." Plans are being made to restart the Adopt-A-Caribou Program and set up a website promoting the recovery program. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All rights reserved. |
Mountain caribou mother and calf
(Photo by André Dumont courtesy Environment Canada)
Caribou herd in British Columbia's North
Thompson Special Management Zone (Photo courtesy Kamloops Land and
Resource Management Plan)