Caribou win winter freedom
Like oil and water, snowmobiles and endangered mountain caribou don't mix. Kudos to the B.C. government for solidifying administrative rules under the mountain caribou recovery plan, freeing caribou from snowmobile traffic in their best winter habitat.
Sorry! Trail closed to snowmobiles due to caribou traffic jam. Photo by Joan Snyder
Kudos go to the B.C. government for solidifying rules under the mountain caribou recovery plan to protect caribou from overly rambunctious snowmobile traffic, letting caribou thrive and recover in good quality habitat.
Implementation of B.C.'s caribou recovery plan has resulted in protecting 1.5 million hectares (nearly 4 million acres) of caribou habitat from snowmobiling. An additional 90,000 hectares (225,000 acres) are now being managed with voluntary closures by recreation companies responsive to the needs of caribou in winter.
Biologists tell us that caribou are terrifically sensitive both to the machinery and to the deep access achieved by people on snowmobiles.
Snowmobiles drive caribou from high quality to poorer quality habitat. In poorer quality habitat, mountain caribou are exposed to an increased risk of accidental deaths from avalanches in steeper terrain; increased energy expenditure required to move through deeper snow or steeper terrain; reduced forage of their winter food staple, tree lichens; and increased risk of predation.
Snowmobiles, biologists recommend, should be restricted from high quality caribou winter habitat, or at least limited to a small proportion of the total high quality habitat for each herd.
And, just over the border from B.C. in the Selkirk Mountains of Washington State, the native mountain caribou herd may win permanent closure of some snowmobile trails. The Forest Service is considering closing abused trails entirely, spurred by illegal off-roading done by the few who don't follow the rules in designated critical habitat. Most riders are respectful of temporary trail closures to protect wildlife.
