Land use designations to protect wildlife and their habitat may be both provincial and federal. However, due to the provincial jurisdiction over Crown land, most of the federal designations require provincial approval. The nine designations for wildlife discussed in this section are both federal and provincial, and statute and policy-based, designations. They offer varying levels of protection for wildlife and their habitat, and involve different decision-makers, according to the agency responsible for the designation.

 

4.3.1 CRITICAL WILDLIFE AREAS

Critical Wildlife Areas are designations under section 5 of the provincial Wildlife Act for the habitat of endangered and threatened species. It is a discretionary designation, which means that designation is not required wherever the habitat exists, but rather may occur where the minister "requires land for habitat." Designation requires the passage of a regulation. There is only one critical wildlife area designation in British Columbia, which is for the habitat of the endangered Vancouver Island marmot. There are two pre-conditions for the critical wildlife area designation.

• The endangered or threatened species must be formally designated as such under section 6 of the Wildlife Act. Only four species have received this designation in British Columbia: the Vancouver Island marmot, American white pelican, burrowing owl and sea otter. Although the Conservation Data Centre lists more than 200 vertebrates as threatened or endangered in British Columbia, their habitat needs cannot be protected through this designation at present.
• The area of critical wildlife habitat must be within a wildlife management area designated under section 4 of the Wildlife Act. It can be all or part of the wildlife management area.

The Wildlife Act does not specify the purpose or consequence of the critical wildlife area designation. Under subsection 7(4), a regional manager may make an order prohibiting persons from entering, damaging vegetation, disturbing wildlife, or releasing, abandoning or allowing animals to enter into critical wildlife areas. This power to make orders extends to wildlife management areas and wildlife sanctuaries as well.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Wildlife Act. RSBC 1996, c.488, ss.1,5, 7.

Regulation: Wildlife Management Areas Regulation No.3. BC Reg. 183/91.

 

4.3.2 FOREST ECOSYSTEM NETWORKS

Forest ecosystem networks (FENs) are forest planning designations that are important for maintaining wildlife habitat. Forest ecosystem networks are considered a fundamental building block in maintaining biological diversity across the forest landscape. They are referenced in the Operational Planning Regulation and various guidebooks of the Forest Practices Code.

The Operational Planning Regulation describes the purpose of forest ecosystem networks as "maintaining or restoring the natural connectivity within an area." They are established in higher level plans, or by the agreement of Forest Service district managers and Ministry of Environment officials. FENs which were agreed to between the agencies prior to June 15, 1995 (the date the Code came into effect) will expire on June 15, 2003, unless they are incorporated into higher level plans.

The concept of a FEN is best described in the Biodiversity Guidebook. It defines FENs as "a planned landscape zone that serves to maintain or restore the natural connectivity within a landscape unit. A forest ecosystem network (or FEN) consists of a variety of fully protected areas, sensitive areas, and old growth management areas."

Forest ecosystem networks provide the following benefits:

• they reduce the impact on landscape units of habitat fragmentation and old growth conversion;
• they represent the full range of ecosystems in the landscape unit;
• they provide some forest interior habitat within each landscape unit;
• they provide wildlife species with areas of refuge during periods of disturbance on nearby sites, as well as acting as centres and corridors of dispersal for the re-colonization of historic ranges by certain species;
• they provide a continuum of relatively undisturbed habitat for indigenous species that depend on mature and old growth forests; and,
• they provide daily and seasonal movement corridors for certain species.

 

Design Principles for Forest Ecosystem Networks

Out of concern that resource planners might develop forest ecosystem networks over large areas, and thus lead to reductions in the allowable annual cut (AAC) and government stumpage revenue, the provincial government has placed limitations on the extent to which FENs may be allowed on the landscape. Much of this political direction has been issued subsequent to the release of the Biodiversity Guidebook in September 1995. The maximum impact that resource managers may have through all biodiversity measures outlined in the Guidebook is about four percent of the AAC provincially.

Furthermore, designing FENs is not considered "priority" biodiversity planning according to current policy. Landscape unit planning is currently focusing on old growth and wildlife tree retention. It is government policy only to establish landscape unit objectives for other elements of biodiversity conservation, such as landscape connectivity, where the Code ministers have approved higher level plan resource management zone objectives to deal with these values. The freedom to design FENs is therefore quite politically constrained at the present time.

As the Landscape Unit Planning Guide states:

The application of Forest Ecosystem Networks (FENs) has changed since its introduction in the Biodiversity Guidebook. FENs represent the combination of many landscape biodiversity elements. Since legally established landscape unit objectives focus on components such as OGMAs [old growth management areas], landscape unit objectives may not necessarily delineate or define the FEN. It will remain a useful design concept that may help in the preliminay stages of landscape unit planning.

The Biodiversity Guidebook suggests the following design principles for forest ecosystem networks.

• In mountain and valley ecosystems with wet climates, where contiguous old growth forest was a dominant component of the natural landscapes, the delineation of FENs is especially important. However, FENs may also be used in other ecosystems to link important habitats such as wetlands. At the same time, not all components need to be connected and, overall, the need for connectivity varies among disturbance types.
• Some components of a FEN should be permanent reserves (for example, unstable slopes); others should be sensitive areas that retain important stand attributes (for example, riparian management areas).
• Riparian habitats (found adjacent to streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands) provide many of the features necessary to maintain biodiversity at the landscape level. In many instances these should form the focal point in FEN delineation. Their linear nature provides species with movement opportunities between ranges at different altitudes, and their diverse vegetation provides species with the structural and functional attributes they need to be sustained. Nevertheless, while riparian areas are important to most species:
  • FENs should not be composed entirely of riparian habitats.
  • where areas previously constrained (such as wildlife habitat areas, riparian management areas, areas with visual quality objectives) are used to meet old seral requirements, they will henceforth be managed as old growth management areas.
• It is important that all ecosystems in a landscape unit be represented in the FEN designed for that unit. This means that upland habitats such as those on south aspect slopes and ridge tops, as well as habitats on cooler and moister northerly aspects, should be considered.
• A key component of FENs is, as the name implies, the requirement for important habitat features to be connected in a manner that forms a comprehensive landscape network. Ideally, this connectivity should be dominated by old growth or mature timber and should be established to incorporate natural terrain features such as gullies and ridges. As shown in each of the five disturbance type summaries, the characteristics of natural connectivity vary by natural disturbance type. Natural disturbance type is a technical term representing the classification of various ecosystems across the province according to their historic levels of natural disturbance through wildfires, windstorms, etc.
• In designing FENs for any one landscape unit, planners should remember to consider the habitat conditions and management plans in adjacent landscape units, as these may affect issues of connectivity and age class distribution in the unit being designed.

 

Management Principles for Forest Ecosystem Networks

Detailed steps for designing a FEN are also set out in the Biodiversity Guidebook. Because FENs are not legal designations, the management of forest practices within them occurs through the discretionary approval of operational plans. However, FENs that are established through higher level plans should have clearly specified objectives that are binding on operational plans. In addition, forest practices within FENs can be addressed legally through the terms and conditions of approved operational plans, cutting permits and road permits.

The Biodiversity Guidebook recommends the following management principles within FENs:

• roads through protected areas, wildlife habitat areas, and sensitive areas within FENs should be avoided;
• the number, length and width of rights-of-way for roads through FENs should be minimized;
• prompt and appropriate steps should be taken to deactivate roads no longer in use in FENs;
• where mature and old seral areas (but not areas designated as old growth management areas) are identified to meet connectivity objectives, and provided the connectivity objectives can be maintained, some harvesting can occur within these linkage areas as long as the mature stand attributes are maintained;
• when natural disturbances such as wildfire, windthrow, or insect outbreak occur within, or threaten to enter, a FEN, the appropriate management action should be based on an evaluation of the disturbance’s effect on the functioning of the FEN. Conversely, when a natural disturbance threatens to affect areas outside the FEN, the appropriate management action should be based on an evaluation of the impact on the adjacent commercial forest or leave areas; and,
• where natural disturbances have affected a FEN, management actions such as salvage logging and site rehabilitation must be evaluated (to determine, for example, the value of the FEN and the value of the damaged timber) to ensure that such decisions do not compromise the integrity of the FEN, adjacent commercial forests, leave areas, or other forest values.

 

For Further Reference

Regulation: Operational Planning Regulation. BC Reg. 107/98, ss.1, 39(4).

Guidebook: Biodiversity Guidebook. September 1995.

Landscape Unit Planning Guide. March 1999.

 

4.3.3 NATIONAL WILDLIFE AREAS

National wildlife areas are areas of federal land (or land administered by the federal government, such as private land under a lease to the federal government) which are managed for their wildlife habitat values. They are formally designated by the federal government under the Canada Wildlife Act and its regulations. Where public lands are required for wildlife research, conservation or interpretation, any federal law may assigned the administration of these lands to the Minister of Environment. A national wildlife area is then established by a regulation setting out the legal description of its boundaries.

There are five national wildlife areas in British Columbia:

• Alaksen National Wildlife Area;
• Widgeon Valley National Wildlife Area;
• Columbia National Wildlife Area;
• Qualicum National Wildlife Area; and,
• Vaseux-Bighorn National Wildlife Area.

Human activity in national wildlife areas is regulated by the Wildlife Area Regulations. The list of activities below are prohibited in wildlife areas, unless specifically authorized in a notice published in a local newspaper, a sign posted on the site, or a permit. Permits may only be issued if the activity "will not interfere with the conservation of wildlife." Otherwise, it is prohibited to:

• hunt or fish;
• be in possession any firearm, slingshot, bow and arrow, or other hunting instruments;
• be in possession of any animal, carcass, nest, egg;
• damage, destroy or remove a plant;
• carry on any agricultural activity, graze livestock or harvest any natural or cultivated crop;
• allow any domestic animals to run at large;
• swim, picnic, camp or carry on any other recreational activity or light or maintain a fire;
• operate a conveyance;
• destroy or molest animals or carcasses, nests or eggs;
• remove, deface, damage or destroy any artifact, natural object, building, fence, poster, sign or other structure;
• carry on any commercial or industrial activity;
• disturb or remove any soil, sand, gravel or other material; or,
• dump or deposit any rubbish, waste material or substance that would degrade or alter the quality of the environment.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Canada Wildlife Act. RSC, 1985, c.W-9.

Regulations: Wildlife Area Regulations. SOR/78-466, s.1(F); SOR/94-594, s.2(F).

Various Orders in Council "Assigning to the Minister of Environment the Management, Administration and Control of Certain Public Lands."

 

4.3.4 OLD GROWTH MANAGEMENT AREAS

Many wildlife species in British Columbia require habitats with features such as snags and old decaying logs which are found mostly in old growth forests. To maintain these species and the biological diversity found in British Columbia forests, the Biodiversity Guidebook under the Forest Practices Code sets out target levels of old growth forest to be maintained across the province. While it is expected that some old growth forest will likely be maintained through requirements for riparian reserves around certain fish-bearing streams, provision is also made for the designation of old growth management areas that are specifically managed to maintain the habitat characteristics of old growth forests.

It is not mandatory that old growth management areas be designated; to date, none have been designated. However, current government policy is that old growth management areas are one of two priorities for landscape unit planning. The Landscape Unit Planning Guide, released in March 1999, provides the framework for this level of planning, including the process for establishing old growth management areas. Establishment of landscape unit objectives for old growth retention is to be completed by July 31, 2002.

 

What Are Old Growth Management Areas and How Are They Designated

Old growth management areas are defined in the Operational Planning Regulation as "an area established under a higher level plan that contains or is managed to replace structural old growth attributes."

A higher level plan includes objectives established for resource management zones, landscape unit plans or sensitive areas, all designated under the Forest Practices Code. For further discussion on higher level plans, refer to Part 2 of this Guide. Current policy is that old growth management areas will be established through landscape unit planning.

In March 1999, the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks released the Landscape Unit Planning Guide, which states that it is "now appropriate and recommended" for Ministry of Forests district managers and designated environment officials to move forward on establishing objectives for old growth retention for landscape units. On the other hand, this guide presents a more constrained approach to establishing old growth management areas than was originally set out in the Biodiversity Guidebook.

For example, old growth forests identified to meet the targets set out in the Biodiversity Guidebook must first come from areas which are in parks, areas not technologically or economically accessible to the forest industry, or areas which are otherwise constrained due to management polices for values such as riparian reserves and deer winter range. See Part 2.3 of this Guide for a fuller discussion of landscape unit planning.

 

Where Should Old Growth Management Areas Be Designated

The Biodiversity Guidebook outlines the design principles for forest ecosystem networks, and sets out step-by-step procedures and recommendations for where old growth management areas should be designated. The original policy intent behind old growth management areas is also evident in the Biodiversity Guidebook’s description of forest ecosystem networks as "a planned landscape zone that serves to maintain or restore the natural connectivity within a landscape unit. A forest ecosystem network…consists of a variety of fully protected areas, sensitive areas, and old growth management areas."

However, the application of forest ecosystem networks has changed since the introduction of the Biodiversity Guidebook. Maintaining landscape connectivity is not currently a priority for landscape unit planning, although in some areas it is possible that connectivity can be managed through strategic location of old growth management areas.

The Landscape Unit Planning Guide sets out the following steps for determining where old growth management areas should be located.

 

Data and Report Preparation

The first step in developing old growth management areas is to define the land base to which old growth retention targets will apply. The Crown forested land base, the "timber harvesting land base," and the "non-contributing land base" must be identified on maps. The "timber harvesting land base" is defined as Crown forested land that contributes to the allowable annual cut of a tree farm licence or timber supply area. "Non-contributing land" is Crown forested land that does not contribute to the allowable annual cut, but does contribute to meeting old growth targets; for example, parks, riparian reserves, and inoperable areas. The distinction between the timber harvesting land base and the non-contributing land base is made primarily for the purposes of managing timber supply impacts, not biodiversity.

This data, as well as forest inventory and planning information, go into a data base which is used to prepare a summary report called an "Old Growth Retention Report." This report provides an overview of the following for all landscape units in the planning area:

• the percentage of old growth in the non-contributing land base that is available to meet old growth targets;
• the percentage of old growth available to meet targets in the timber harvesting land base;
• the percentage of the timber harvesting land base that is "of harvestable age;"
• the availabilty of forest close to the desired old growth age; and,
• the percentage of old growth in the timber harvesting land base where the management regime would normally result in older forests being retained or perpetuated (e.g. a resource management zone objective for caribou management).

This report, along with Regional Land Use Planning Strategies, will identify the priorities for establishing old growth management areas and objectives. The Landscape Unit Planning Guide provides that all old growth management areas "should be designated for an entire planning area simultaneously."

After the necessary background information has been collected, the Landscape Unit Planning Guide sets out three steps for establishing old growth management areas and their associated management objectives.

Step 1: Determine the Area of Old Growth Management Areas that Can be Placed in the Timber Harvesting Land Base Versus the Non-Contributing Land Base

Old growth targets must first be met from those portions of the land base that do not contribute to the allowable annual cut. Because old growth management areas cannot actually be established outside the provincial forest, where areas such as parks are used to meet old growth targets, the total area of old growth management areas established is reduced. Furthermore, the Chief Forester has directed that the ecological representativeness of old growth will only be calculated at the "Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) variant" level. Without assessing representativeness at an ecosystem level, there is a risk that old growth targets will be met disproportionately in steep and rocky areas.

Step 2: Delineate Draft Old Growth Management Areas

The Landscape Unit Planning Guide provides that the following factors should be considered when delineating old growth management areas:

• where old growth management areas must be established (i.e. where old growth targets cannot be met through existing protected areas), they are supposed to be set up to maximize value to biodiversity conservation, considering criteria such as:

• capturing rare old growth site series;
• where certain site series are absent or underrepresented in the non-contributing land base, capturing these in old growth management areas in the timber harvesting land base;
• creating old growth management areas large enough to provide old growth in interior condition; and,
• locating old growth management areas to maximize their connectivity value;

• in landscape units with high or intermediate biodiversity emphasis, capture the full old growth target immediately; develop a recruitment strategy where there is a deficit;

• if it is necessary to put old growth management areas in the timber harvesting land base, older mature forests may only be consider in limited circumstances;
• for landscape units with low biodiversity emphasis, it is only acceptable to establish more than one-third of the old growth retention target if this will not cause additional timber supply impacts;
• if old growth targets have to be met in the timber harvesting land base, wherever possible they should be put in areas that are already constrained by management practices that will result in retention of older forest characteristics;
• avoid locating cutblocks over approved Category A cutblocks (see Part 3.3.5 of the Guide for a discussion of cutblock categories); only in exceptional circumstances, such as where there is an rare old forest ecosystem (rare old growth site series) should old growth management areas affect previously approved Category A cutblocks;
• old growth management areas do not impact on the status of existing mineral and gas permits or tenures; and,
• range use is permitted in old growth management areas, although it must proceed in a way that is sensitive to old growth values.

Step 3: Determine Priority for Establishing Old Growth Management Areas

The priority for the establishment of old growth management areas is as follows, although the decision to establish old growth landscape unit objectives is at the discretion of the district manager and the designated environment official.

In high and intermediate biodiversity emphasis landscape units:

• legally establish old growth objectives and old growth management boundaries; and,
• delineate and establish old growth management areas that are part of a recruitment strategy.

In low biodiversity emphasis landscape units:

• legally establish old growth objectives and old growth management areas to one-third of the target (unless more can be met in the non-contributing land base, or greater than one-third of the target can be met without additional impacts on allowable annual cut; and,
• wait for the timber supply analysis through the timber supply review to be completed before establishing old growth management areas to recruit old growth.

 

What Forest Practices Apply in an Old Growth Management Area

The intent of old growth management areas is to ensure that any forest practices which may occur within them will maintain the habitat attributes which led to their designation. To this end, section 29 of the Timber Harvesting Practices Regulation prohibits clearcutting in old growth management areas unless it has been approved in a forest development plan, or is authorized in writing by a Ministry of Forests district manager, with the agreement of a designated official of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks.

The Biodiversity Guidebook provides the following additional policy for forest practices within old growth management areas:

• timber harvesting and silvicultural practices within an old growth management area should be consistent with management objectives for the area;
• old growth management areas can be harvested when equivalent old seral stage areas are available; and,
• old growth management areas can be brought on-stream earlier than would naturally occur through silvicultural interventions designed to promote the key attributes, or through the retention of these attributes during harvesting.

 

For Further Reference

Regulations: Operational Planning Regulation. BC Reg. 107/98, s.1.

Timber Harvesting Practices Regulation. BC Reg. 109/98, s.29.

Guidebooks: Biodiversity Guidebook. September 1995.

Landscape Unit Planning Guide. March 1999.

 

4.3.5 WILDLIFE HABITAT AREAS

Wildlife habitat areas are designations under the Forest Practices Code of areas that require special forest and range management considerations in order to conserve wildlife habitat. The manual Managing Identified Wildlife: Procedures and Measures states that:

Wildlife habitat areas are areas of limiting habitat that have been mapped and approved by the chief forester and deputy minister of Environment, Lands and Parks. Wildlife habitat areas are designed to minimize disturbance or habitat alteration to a species limiting habitat or to a rare plant community.

The designation of wildlife habitat areas is considered to be one of three strategies for conserving threatened and endangered species under the Code. The other two management strategies are the development of "general wildlife measures," which direct forest and range practices in certain areas, and the incorporation of wildlife "objectives" into higher level plans. The Biodiversity Guidebook describes wildlife habitat areas as "one of the main building blocks for the design of forest ecosystem networks."

In February 1999, the provincial government announced the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy. Volume one of the Strategy is comprised of two documents: Species and Plant Community Accounts for Identified Wildlife and Managing Identified Wildlife: Procedures and Measures. These two documents provide clarity and direction on government policy regarding the biology of identified wildlife, procedures to be followed in designating wildlife habitat areas, and mandatory forest practices within wildlife habitat areas. Volume two of the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy, which will include a further list of identified species, is under development and the provincial government also plans to update volume one. 

 

How Wildlife Habitat Areas are Designated

Section 70(1) of the Operational Planning Regulation provides that the Chief Forester and the Deputy Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks (or a person authorized by the Deputy Minister), acting jointly, may by written order "establish a mapped area of land as a wildlife habitat area, if satisfied that the mapped area is necessary to meet the habitat requirements of identified wildlife."

Proposals for wildlife habitat areas may be submitted by the public. The document Managing Identified Wildlife: Procedures and Measures sets out a nine-step procedure for establishing a wildlife habitat area.

As of March 2001, three wildlife habitat areas have been designated. It is anticipated that approximately thirty will be designated imminently, with further additions being made in the coming months. Present direction from the provincial government is that the short and long term timber supply impacts of implementing the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy cannot be greater than one percent of the provincial allowable annual cut at the end of 1995. At present, however, government policy is to limit timber supply impacts to one percent per forest district. The number and size of wildlife habitat areas that resource managers will be allowed to designate are therefore restricted by these impact limits. Specific government policy on wildlife habitat area designation is clarified in the manual Managing Identified Wildlife: Procedures and Measures.

 

What Wildlife May Wildlife Habitat Areas be Designated For

The wildlife habitat area designation is not intended to be available for all wildlife. Section 70(1) of the Operational Planning Regulation states that wildlife habitat areas may be established where mapped areas are "necessary to meet the habitat requirements of identified wildlife." While the general intent is that identified wildlife will be those species which are considered to be threatened or endangered, they must be specifically agreed to by the Deputy Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks (or a person authorized by the Deputy Minister) and the Chief Forester. Section 70(1) of the Operational Planning Regulation provides that they may jointly, by written order, "classify a species at risk as identified wildlife, if they agree that the species needs to be managed through a higher level plan, wildlife habitat area or general wildlife measure."

In an order made March 3, 1999, by the Chief Forester and the Deputy Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks, the following species and plant communities were classified as "identified wildlife:"

 

Fish

Bull trout

Amphibians

Tailed frog

Reptiles

Gopher snake

Night snake

Racer

Rubber boa

Birds

American white pelican

American bittern

Sandhill crane

Western grebe

Trumpeter swan

Long-billed curlew

Ferruginous hawk

Prairie falcon

Northern goshawk

Queen Charlotte goshawk

Ancient murrelet

Cassin’s auklet

Marbled murrelet

Lewis’s woodpecker

White-headed woodpecker

Bobolink

Grasshopper sparrow

Brewer’s sparrow

Sage thrasher

Yellow-breasted chat

Mammals

Pacific water shrew

Keen’s long-eared myotis

Mountain beaver

Vancouver Island marmot

Fisher

Grizzly bear

Mountain goat

Bighorn sheep

Plant communities

Douglas fir and Garry oak, oniongrass

Ponderosa pine, black cottonwood, Nootka rose, poison ivy

Water birch, red-osier dogwood

 

What Forest and Range Practices are Required in Wildlife Habitat Areas

Wildlife habitat areas are not necessarily areas that are off-limits to forest and range practices. Rather, designation of wildlife habitat areas invokes certain operational planning requirements, and may invoke certain mandatory forest and range practices.

Section 17 of the Forest Practices Code and the Operational Planning Regulation set out the circumstances where "known" wildlife habitat areas must be identified and included in operational plans.

Section 70(1) of the Operational Planning Regulation provides that the Chief Forester and the Deputy Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks may make written orders establishing management practices that apply in wildlife habitat areas, if they are satisfied that the management practices are necessary to maintain identified wildife in these areas. These management practices are referred to as general wildlife measures, and are legally required. However, when general wildlife measures are established, the order may delegate the authority to vary some or all of the management practices that apply to the wildlife habitat area to the Ministry of Forests district manager and the regional fish and wildlife manager of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks.

In an order made March 3, 1999, certain management practices set out in the document Managing Identified Wildlife: Procedures and Measures were established as general wildlife measures. In this document, practices have been grouped by species and according to the following headings: access, range, recreation, restoration and enhancement, and silviculture. Although some of the general wildlife measures established prohibit logging or roadbuilding, a more typical formulation permits a variance by the district manager and the regional fish and wildlife manager. For example, one of the general wildlife measures that applies to logging in wildlife habitat areas established for the western grebe is as follows:

Do not harvest during the breeding season unless the district manager and regional fish and wildlife manager are satisfed there is no other practicable option and the variance is approved by the district maanger and regional fish and wildlife manager.

Several of the Code guidebooks elaborate on the management intent of wildlife habitat areas. However, these recommended practices have been to some extent overtaken by specific legally required general wildlife measures, and by Code amendments that have reduced operational planning requirements.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. RSBC 1996, c.159, s.17.

Regulations: Operational Planning Regulation. BC Reg. 107/98.

Timber Harvesting Practices Regulation. BC Reg. 109/98.

Managing Identified Wildlife: Procedures and Measures, Volume 1. Ministry of Forests. February 1999.

Species and Plant Community Accounts for Identified Wildlife, Volume 1. Ministry of Forests. February 1999.

Guidebooks: Forest Development Plan Guidebook. December 1995.

Silviculture Prescription Guidebook. February 2000.

Biodiversity Guidebook. September 1995.

Boundary Marking Guidebook. August 1995.

Spacing Guidebook. November 1995.

Website: Identified Wildlife Strategy: www.elp.gov.bc.ca/wld/identified/index.html

Contact Conservation Data Centre for information about endangered species.

 

4.3.6 WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS

Wildlife management areas are designations under section 4 of the provincial Wildlife Act for the management of wildlife habitat. The minister responsible for the Wildlife Act, with Cabinet consent, may establish wildlife management areas. Once designated, the policy of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks is to prepare management plans for each wildlife management area to provide management objectives that guide activities that may occur within the area.

Wildlife management areas probably offer stronger legal protection for wildlife than wildlife habitat areas under the Forest Practices Code for three reasons: because their boundaries are established by regulation, as opposed to by order; because each wildlife management area has its own management plan; and, because any use of the land or resources within them must be approved by the environment ministry (although rights granted prior to the designation are not affected).

Where May Wildlife Management Areas be Established

Any land that is "under the minister’s administration" may be designated as a wildlife management area, with the exception of provincial parks and recreation areas. Land may come under the minister’s administration through purchase or lease by the ministry, by donation of property to BC Environment; and, for Crown land, by the designation of the land under section 17 of the Land Act for wildlife management purposes (described above in Part 4.1.4).

Wildlife management areas may be established within provincial forests. This has occurred in both the East and West Kootenays, where wildlife management area designations within provincial forests were recommended by the East Kootenay Regional Land Use Plan and the West Kootenay-Boundary Regional Land Use Plan, both approved by the provincial government. Work by the Ministry of Forests and Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks on preparing a draft protocol agreement concerning wildlife management area designation in provincial forests is currently on hold.

The Planning Guide to Wildlife Management Areas provides the following policy on where wildlife management areas are appropriate:

Under authority provided by the Wildlife Act, wildlife management areas may be established where conservation and management measures are considered essential to the continued well being of resident or migratory wildlife that are of regional, national or global significance.

Wildlife management areas may encompass entire ecosystems, so as to include the range of habitats required by a particular species, or they may be limited to areas that are essential to a species during a critical life cycle phase (e.g. spawning, rearing, calving, denning, or nesting). The designation may be used to secure migration routes, critical winter feeding areas, important habitat for endangered, threatened, sensitive, or vulnerable species, or areas of especially productive habitat and high species richness. Wildlife management areas may also include areas that have special significance to the people of British Columbia as a result of their wildlife values.

 

How the Wildlife Management Program fits into Land Use Planning Exercises

This question is best answered by the Planning Guide to Wildlife Management Areas:

If an LRMP or local resource planning process is underway in the area of the proposed wildlife management area, information that supports wildlife values should be tabled within the existing process. The interagency and public negotiations that occur as part of these strategic planning processes will define specific land use and management priorities, including those for wildlife management. For those areas where wildlife values are considered to be of regional, provincial or national significance, designation may be recommended by a planning table.

Where a protected area designation is not an option or is considered too restrictive, wildlife management area designation can also be a useful tool to ensure some degree of management control. In particular, areas established by an LRMP as "Special Resource Management Zones for Habitat/Wildlife Management" may be suitable for consideration as a wildlife management area. A recommendation for wildlife management area status and a list of key management objectives can then be included as part of the final plan.

Where recommendations in a strategic plan have resulted in a government commitment to designate a specific area as a wildlife management area, the designation process may differ somewhat from that outlined in this Guide (e.g. designation may in some instances proceed prior to completion of a wildlife management area plan). If an LRMP or other strategic plan has already been completed, proposals for new wildlife management areas should be consistent with any Special Resource Management Zones established under the plan.

 

How Wildlife Management Areas differ from Wildlife Habitat Areas under the Forest Practices Code

While Wildlife Act wildlife management areas and Forest Practices Code wildlife habitat areas share some of the same objectives, there are also important differences in the intent behind the designations. Wildlife habitat areas under the Code will likely be restricted to smaller areas for fewer species (i.e. "identified wildlife"). The forested areas available for species protection are limited by the one percent cap that has been placed on provincial timber supply impacts from the implementation of the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy. Furthermore, wildlife habitat areas are only available for habitat that is considered "limiting" to the survival of the species. For example, wildlife habitat areas may include only a designated core around a habitat feature such as a nest or a den and a buffer to protect that area.

The Operational Planning Regulation provides the authority for general wildlife measures to be established that apply within wildife habitat areas, or to "specified ecosystem units" if satisfied that the management practice is necessary to maintain a specified habitat. However, for this to occur the Chief Forester and the Deputy Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks (or a person authorized by the Deputy Minister) must jointly issue a written order. By way of contrast, all uses of land and resources in a wildlife management area automatically require the written permission of the regional fish and wildlife manager of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks (although rights granted prior to the designation are not affected).

Wildlife management areas can fill a potential gap by helping to meet the needs of regionally, provincially, or nationally significant species that are not necessarily considered to be at risk. A wildlife management area may also address the needs of species that require larger tracts of land to address their habitat needs. In such cases, establishment of a wildlife management area may be an appropriate means to conserve or manage for particular wildlife values.

 

What Land Uses may Occur within Wildlife Management Areas

Wildlife management areas are considered to be integrated management designations which allow for uses unrelated to wildlife habitat. However, wildlife values are given top priority in wildlife management areas.

According to the Planning Guide to Wildlife Management Areas:

In general, WMAs [wildlife management areas] are administered under an integrated management regime. Although wildlife is given top priority, other activities can be accommodated where they are considered compatible with, or acceptable in terms of, established wildlife objectives. In some instances, wildlife management areas may sustain a range of resource development activities. For example, the South Okanagan wildlife management area supports grazing, hay-cutting and industrial rights-of-way.

Wildlife management area designation does not affect any rights granted prior to designation; however, any new proposed use of land or resources requires the approval of the regional fish and wildlife manager of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. Section 4(4) of the Wildlife Act provides that: "Despite any other enactment, a person may not use land or resources in a wildlife management area without the written permission of the regional manager." This is one of the key differences from wildlife habitat areas under the Forest Practices Code, where decision-making over land use activities resides with the Ministry of Forests.

Habitat for threatened and endangered species may be further designated within wildlife management areas as critical wildlife areas or wildlife sanctuaries.

One of the consequences of wildlife management area designation is that it becomes an offence to alter, destroy or damage wildlife habitat, or to deposit substances which are harmful to wildlife or wildlife habitat in wildlife management areas. In addition to being an offence, the minister may sue to recover the cost of restoring the habitat and its wildlife to its original state, or for damages for the loss of the habitat and its wildlife if restoration of the wildlife habitat is impossible.

Cabinet can make orders respecting the use and occupation of wildlife management areas, or can delegate this power to the minister responsible. Regional managers may make orders prohibiting people from entering wildlife management areas, or from damaging vegetation, disturbing wildlife, and releasing, abandoning or allowing animals to enter wildlife management areas.

Management Plans for Wildlife Management Areas

BC Environment’s policy is to require that management plans be prepared for all proposed and existing wildlife management areas. The management plans are vetted by the public and other resource agencies, and in general must:

• describe the management area and proposed management regime;
• provide justification for transferring administration of the Crown land to BC Environment for wildlife management purposes;
• inform the public about proposed management for the area, possible use restrictions, and opportunities for public involvement in management;
• identify specific management objectives and the operational measures that will be undertaken to meet them;
• clarify the relationship of the proposed area to existing resource planning initiatives, including a discussion of potential conflicts and methods for resolution;
• outline how this area supports regional objectives for fisheries and wildlife management;
• define the effective period of the plan; and,
• indicate the anticipated scope of the Director’s order or Order-in-Council regulations for the area.

There are presently nineteen wildlife management areas in British Columbia, comprising an area of over 100 000 hectares, mostly in wetland and marine areas for the management of waterfowl and shorebirds. However, there is no reason that wildlife management areas could not be used to designate habitat management areas for upland species such as grizzly bear or mountain caribou. The following Table summarizes the wildlife management areas in BC:

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Name	Area (ha.) (approx.)	Region	Primary Species	Primary Habitat	Date Designated
Boundary Bay	11 470	Lower Mainland	Waterfowl, shorebirds	Tidal foreshore	May-95
Dewdrop-Rosseau	4 240	Thompson	Bighorn Sheep	Grassland	Jun-87
Pitt-Addington	4 058	Lower Mainland	Waterfowl	Wetlands	Jun-87
Chilanko Marsh	883	Cariboo	Waterfowl	Wetlands	Jun-87
Parksville-Qualicum	882	Vancouver Island	Waterfowl	Estuary/foreshore	Mar-93
South Okanagan	434	Okanagan	Various	Dry uplands, riparian	Apr-94
South Arm Marshes	850	Lower Mainland	Waterfowl	Estuary/tidal marshes	Sep-91
Green Mountain	300	Vancouver Island	Marmot	Subalpine	May-91
Tranquille	253	Thompson	Waterfowl	Wetlands	Jun-87
Reef Island	250	Skeena	Seabirds	Offshore islands	Jul-90
Limestone Islands	64	Skeena	Seabirds	Offshore islands	Jul-90
Skedans Island	38	Skeena	Seabirds	Offshore islands	Jul-90
Coquitlam River	17	Lower Mainland	Great Blue Heron	Riparian	Dec-94
Columbia Wetlands	26 200	Kootenay	Waterfowl	Wetlands	Apr-96
Tofino Mudflats	1 650	Vancouver Island	Waterfowl, shorebirds	Intertidal & some upland	Apr-97
East Side Columbia Lake	7 195*	Kootenay	Waterfowl, ungulate winter range	Wetlands, lakeshore and upland habitat	May-00
Midge Creek	14 757	Kootenay	Buffer to West Arm Park; various species; mountain caribou reintroduction	Various; old growth forests in valley bottoms, high elevation wetlands, riparian	Apr-98
Hamling Lakes	30 572	Kootenay	Buffer to Goat Range Park; various species, woodland caribou	Various; old growth forests in valley bottom, high elevation lakes, riparian	Apr-98
Sturgeon Bank	5 152	Lower Mainland	Waterfowl, shorebirds	Intertidal/subtidal foreshore	Oct-98
TOTAL	109 265

* The East Side Columbia Lake Wildlife Management Area, previously designated in September 1997, underwent a modest increase of its original 6 886 hectares in 2000.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Wildlife Act. RSBC 1996, c.488, ss.1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 79, 108(2)(b).

Regulations: Wildlife Management Areas Regulation. BC Reg. 161/87.

See also Wildlife Management Areas Regulation Nos. 2 through 10. BC Regs. 319/88, 183/91, 184/91, 117/93, 118/94, 507/94, 270/95, 131/96, 337/97.

Policy: Planning Guide to Wildlife Management Areas. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, October 1997.

 

4.3.7 WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES

Wildlife sanctuaries are provincial designations of areas within wildlife management areas, under section 5 of the provincial Wildlife Act. The main consequence of the designation is that it becomes an offence to hunt, take, trap, wound or kill wildlife in a wildlife sanctuary under section 26 of the Act.

As with wildlife management areas and critical wildlife areas, a regional manager may make orders prohibiting persons from entering, damaging vegetation, disturbing wildlife, or releasing, abandoning or allowing animals to enter into wildlife sanctuaries.

Designation is by regulation of the Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks. Unlike critical wildlife areas, wildlife sanctuaries may be designated for any wildlife species, not just those which are threatened or endangered.

To date there are no wildlife sanctuary designations in British Columbia.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Wildlife Act. RSBC 1996, c.488, ss.1, 5, 7, 26.

 

4.3.8 MIGRATORY BIRD SANCTUARIES

The federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary Regulations allow for the designation of important habitat as "migratory bird sanctuaries." This designation is useful for both the management of habitat and the regulation of hunting in areas that are important for migratory birds. Seven such areas have been designated in British Columbia. They are:

• Christie Islet Bird Sanctuary;
• Esquimalt Lagoon Bird Sanctuary;
• George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary;
• Nechako River Bird Sanctuary;
• Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary;
• Vaseux Lake Bird Sanctuary; and,
• Victoria Harbour Bird Sanctuary.

Within migratory bird sanctuaries, unless authorized by permit, the regulations prohibit:

• hunting migratory birds;
• disturbing, destroying or taking the nests of migratory birds;
• the possession of live migratory birds, or their carcass, skin, nest or egg;
• the possession of firearms and "hunting appliances;" and,
• any activities which are harmful to migratory birds or their eggs, nests or habitat.

Permits for any of the above activities may only be issued if the federal minister responsible for the regulations is satisfied that they have terms and conditions "necessary to protect migratory birds or the eggs, nests or habitat of migratory birds."

The regulation also contains restrictions which are particular to individual sanctuaries. For example, "the use of a boat or other floating device that is equipped with any means of propulsion other than sails or oars" is prohibited in the Vaseux Lake Bird Sanctuary.

 

For Further Reference

Regulation: Migratory Bird Sanctuary Regulations. CRC, c.1036.

 

11/19/03