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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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Taku-Transboundary Project
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.
A Conservation
Area Design for the Taku River Watershed
CERI has been
working for two years to help complete a regional Conservation
Area Design for coastal southeast Alaska and neighboring Canada.
This regional protection plan employs the principles of conservation
biology, and is complementary to designs being developed for
other coastal and interior regions. CERI is working with Round
River Conservation Studies to analyze each major watershed within
the regional design for this Transboundary
area. In the Coastal Temperate Rainforest regions conserving and maintaining
habitat connections is critical for a high quality of life; for
human communities, plant communities and animal communities,
and implementing Conservation Area Designs in this region is
the most effective way to accomplish this. The Craighead Environmental
Research Institute is cooperating with, Round River Conservation
Studies [RRCS], The Nature Conservancy, Nature Conservancy Canada,
Ecotrust, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, and
the members of Transboundary Watershed Alliance. We also work
with academic institutions (University of Northern British Columbia
[UNBC] and Montana State University) and government agencies
(US Forest Service, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the BC
Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, and the Interagency
Grizzly Bear Study Team [IGBST]).
CERI's work
is designed to dovetail with ongoing analyses that are being
conducted with co-operators in these areas. Round River Conservation
Studies is developing habitat suitability and least-cost-path
analyses for the Transboundary Watershed region in collaboration
with CERI, and the Transboundary Watershed Alliance. Lance Craighead
is helping to direct GIS model development, and to conduct analyses
to evaluate the correlation with known GPS locations of animals
and the correlation with other models.
Implementation
of the CAD
 CERI
will help implement the results of regional-scale (1km2 grid)
focal species models and least-cost-path models of core and movement
habitat for a study area encompassing all the Transboundary (between
B.C. and Alaska) rivers (in cooperation with Round River Conservation
Studies and the Transboundary Watershed Alliance). This Conservation
Area Design overlaps portions of the TNC Coastal Forests and
Mountains Ecoregion but extends farther inland where in abuts
portions of the Muskwa-Kechika Conservation Area Design. The
role of CERI biologists/conservationists includes:
1. Conducting site-specific ecological evaluations of
the habitat and the movement barriers in areas that have been
pinpointed by GIS-model results.
2. Conducting interviews with local biologists, sportsmen,
outfitters, and landowners to gather additional information on
animal movements and conservation possibilities.
3. Conducting workshops in local communities to disseminate
the information, which is the best available scientific data,
and to elicit additional comments and local participation and
support.
4. Providing data and other information into the planning
processes of the U.S. Forest Service, Tongass National Forest;
the Alaska Department of Fish and Game; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, The BC Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management,
the B.C. Wildlife Branch, as well as local governments.
Because of
mutual areas of interest, the Transboundary CAD and the TNC Ecoregional
Plan overlap to a large degree: all of southeast Alaska and coastal
British Columbia. However, because of different approaches, the
TNC ecoregional plan will include additional elements not used
for the CAD. In particular the TNC plan will use more detailed
habitat models for a wider array of focal species, and will include
representational analysis of all habitat types plus special elements
analysis of endemic species and other rare elements. Both the
CAD and the TNC plan will be complimentary and in addition will
provide valuable comparisons. |
Craighead
Environmental Research Institute