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The
mission of
the Institute is to increase humankind's understanding, appreciation,
and protection of our natural environment; particularly wildlife
populations and wild landscapes. Our goal is to enable
human beings to live in harmony with other species. |
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The
Central Coast and North Coast
CERI is involved with 5 interrelated
Conservation Area Designs on the Pacific Coast of British Columbia
and Southeast Alaska. These
began as separate projects but have converged into 3 complementary
CADs. Initially, Round River Conservation Studies developed a
CAD for (1) the Central Coast of British
Columbia: CERI was involved in review of the CAD and conducted
site visits in conjunction with Round River and the Raincoast Conservation Society. Recently,
Round River completed a (2) CAD for the North
Coast of British Columbia along with a refinement of the
Central Coast CAD. CERI has been involved in review, model inputs,
and site visits. The methodology used for the Central and North
Coasts will be applied, and refined, for the (3) Transboundary
Watershed CAD which will complete a Conservation Area Design
for the coast [areas outlined in red, magenta, and yellow] based
upon grizzly bear habitat, salmon, and old growth forest as the
primary data layers. At the same time, The Nature Conservancy
and Nature Conservancy Canada are conducting (4) the Ecoregional
Plan for the Coastal Forests and
Mountains Ecoregion which is outlined in blue on the map.
This Plan will incorporate three approaches: representational
analysis, focal species analysis, and special elements analysis,
and should be complementary to the Round River CAD. Comparison
and contrast of the two approaches will teach us about the relative
strengths and weaknesses of each approach, especially in relation
to designing conservation areas on this vast scale with limited
data resources. On a finer scale, Round River is completing a
(5) Conservation Area Design for the Taku River drainage. This is a more detailed CAD incorporating high
resolution wildlife habitat models, traditional ecological knowledge,
and extensive field work. CERI is assisting with model development,
field work, and CAD review.
 CERI
has been collaborating with British Columbia conservation and
research organizations to apply the techniques of GIS-based reserve
design to the problem of maintaining viable populations of grizzly
and black bears (and thus, biodiversity) in coastal and interior
British Columbia. An analysis based upon vegetation, salmon spawning
habitat, topography, grizzly bear habitat suitability models
and known distributions of bears has been completed by Round
River Conservation Studies. CERI assisted in investigations of
two sections of the Central Coast in 1998, and participated in
a biological field camp on the Ecstall River along the North
Coast in 1999.
In 2000 we did field work in the Kitlope and Koesas drainages
and participated in a survey with Ecotrust of bear habitat on
Princess Royal Island and the neighboring mainland. In late 2000
CERI expanded the scope of our involvement to include adjacent
southeast Alaska: bear populations throughout the coast are interrelated
and can not be divided according to political boundaries. Consequently
we took part in field studies on the Taku River in the fall of
2000. In 2001 we worked on the Taku River for 3 weeks, the Stikine
River for 1 week, and in the vicinity of Anan Creek for 3 weeks.
Reserve Design for coastal B.C. includes such areas as the Spirit
Bear Conservancy and Wilderness, the Great Bear Raincoast, the
Kitlope Wilderness, the Khutzymateen Wilderness, and connecting
habitat. As a part of this work Conservation Area Design and
maps of the north and central coast of British Columbia have
been completed by Round River Conservation Studies and are being
reviewed by CERI and the Valhalla Wilderness Society.
CERI is currently working with Round River, Nature Conservancy
Canada, and The (U.S.) Nature Conservancy to develop maps of
brown and black bear habitat throughout the coast; in the Nature
Conservancy's Coastal Forest and Mountains Ecoregion, and in
the Transboundary Watershed area. These maps and Conservation
Area Designs are being used to guide conservation decisions both
by non-governmental organizations and through the required planning
processes of the B.C. Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management,
the Tongass National Forest, The Canadian Wildlife Service, The
B.C. Wildlife Branch, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
CERI biologists participate regularly in meetings, regulatory
hearings, and workshops and give presentations to managers and
the general public.
The North and Central Coast projects complement similar work
being done farther north in Southeast Alaska, and in 2002 CERI
has consolidated our contributions to these efforts into one
regional project: Conservation
Area Design for Coastal Forests and Mountains. Funding
for both these projects will help ensure that adequate habitat
will be protected along the Pacific coast to maintain native
wildlife populations in perpetuity. Key focal species are grizzly
and black bears. We want to ensure that bear populations in this
vast area do not decline as they have in areas further south:
to help ensure that adequate habitat is protected along the Pacific
coast of British Columbia and Alaska to maintain brown and black
bear populations in perpetuity.
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Craighead
Environmental Research Institute