OUTDOORS
Indigenous GROUPS HELP CONSERVE CANADIAN WILDFIRE Indigenous involvement and innovation could save animals from extinction L
JAZMINE CANFIELD jcanfield@cjournal.ca
ast fall, Parks Canada announced that one of the caribou herds in Jasper National Park has gone locally extinct, with the other two not far behind. In response, they are investigating a captive breeding program, which is a potentially invasive and expensive effort. But while it might be too late for the Japer herds, conservation partnerships with Indigenous communities are already showing success elsewhere and might offer lessons for future efforts. The federal government recently signed an agreement with two BC Indigenous communities to help protect caribou habitat there. The Heiltsuk First Nation has created a system that allows them to observe grizzly bears from a distance, so they can manage their land to accommodate the animals. Parks Canada says on their website that the Maligne herd has gone extinct and the Tonquin herd has approximately 45 caribou left, while the Brazeau caribou have fewer than 15 individuals left. Carolyn Campbell, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, said that Parks Canada had not done enough to protect the Maligne herd and their extinction is the result of a lack of immediate action. “When we are talking about Jasper, that’s totally within the federal government’s mandate and we feel there’s even a stronger reason for them to manage those ranges responsibly because they don’t have to look to the province.” Campbell explained that Parks Canada did make changes to protect the caribou in managing the elk, wolves and implementing seasonal closures but “it was a little too late.” Parks Canada stated that from November to the end of February, access to occupied caribou ranges are closed to prevent people from creating packed trails that could give wolves access to the caribous habitat. One of the key decisions that hurt the caribou population was that the government did not close the Maligne Lake road in the winter. “They continued to plow it, which was a big mistake in the early 2000s that enabled wolves to really draw down the Maligne
22 MAY/JUNE 2021
CALGARYJOURNAL.CA
The Grizzly Bear Monitoring Project began to see how many bears were in the area and how their activity changed over time. PHOTO: RICHARD LEE
