Grizzly Bear

Grizzly bears are recognized as a species of special importance within the province of British Columbia. Their role as a large predator in the ecosystem is considered an important barometer of ecosystem health. Historically they have played an important role for resident / non-resident hunting and other tourism values. The CCLUP notes that the South Chilcotin SRDZ is an important area for Grizzly bear. Strategies are designed to ensure that habitat suitability for Grizzly bear is maintained through time.

In general, grizzly bears require large areas that are relatively undisturbed, with a low risk of mortality or displacement, and an assured supply of critical habitats. Critical habitats are areas that are well suited for food, bedding or denning, especially where these are in short supply. They include avalanche tracks, meadows and wetlands that are rich in herbs, glacier lilies, white bark pine, skunk cabbage and berries. Salmon spawning areas are also important. Most critical habitats are relatively small areas (1 to 5 hectares) but they contribute disproportionately to forage requirements.

General issues across the plan area will be addressed below, followed by management plans specific to individual populations.

 

Issues:

  • Increased risk of death or displacement due to interactions between humans and bears (e.g., defence of life and property killing; illegal hunting; road development near important grizzly habitat; death and displacement from traffic; fragmentation of home ranges; and separation of populations).
  • Canopy closure in maturing forests can reduce the sustained supply of forage.
  • Loss of critical grizzly bear habitats.
  • Improper range management can degrade habitat and displace bears.
  • Recreation and tourism use or development can affect a range of grizzly bear habitats and potentially cause displacement or mortality.

Goals:

  • Viable, healthy grizzly bear populations living in suitable habitats across their natural ranges.
Objectives Management Direction/Strategies Measures of Success/Targets Intent
1. Increase

knowledge and

information

available on

grizzly bear

populations and

habitats to inform

management

decisions within

grizzly bear

population units

(see map)

 1.1  Design and implement inventory

techniques to determine absolute

abundance of grizzly bears, and to

monitor population trends. Explore

systematic seasonal aerial survey

and/or DNA/hair collection

programs to monitor population

trends
1.2 Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection should establish and implement a rigorous sighting record collection and recording system focused on monitoring the annual number of adult female grizzly bears with cubs-of-the-year in identified watersheds
1.3 Establish a grizzly bear mortality-monitoring program including detailed documentation of the circumstances and cause of death
1.4 Identify critical grizzly bear habitats (e.g., types, seasons of use, and ranking of importance), through inventories and ground verification
1.5 Use predictive ecosystem mapping to provide information on critical habitats
2.  Manage grizzly

bear populations to

the target levels

specified (see Tables 1 and 2)

 2.1 The Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection should continue to monitor reports of grizzly bear mortality to ensure that bear mortality from all human causes:

·does not exceed 4% of the estimated population;

·less than 30% of this mortality is female; and

·the total kill is not concentrated in one area

 Grizzly bear recovery

plans developed and

implemented

Grizzly bear population unit

targets achieved

 Population targets

will be updated as

new inventories

become available
2.2  Initiate recovery planning
2.3 Consider access management direction in the Access and Transportation section, grizzly bear recovery planning, and future access planning when preparing operational resource development plans
2.4 Consider creating a legal hunt through recovery planning and plan implementation
2.5 Evaluate the effectiveness of the SC Plan grizzly objectives, in terms of achieving recovery, by establishing a bear population monitoring program
3.  Increase public

awareness about

grizzly bear

behaviour and

methods to avoid

bear/human

conflicts and bear

mortality

 3.1  Seek a higher level of public

education, deterrence and

enforcement of regulations and road

closures

 Grizzly bear

mortality due to

human interactions

decreased
3.2 Implement a Wilderness Watch program (forest users reporting inappropriate activities to conservation officers) to support the conservation officer service
3.3 Implement a warden/guardian program to support the conservation officer service
4 Manage

resource

development and

use activities in

identified

watersheds (see

map) to recover

and sustain viable,

healthy grizzly

bear populations and habitats by minimizing the access

 4.1  Attempt to overlap grizzly bear

habitat needs with other compatible

interests (e.g., riparian areas; old

growth management areas) wherever

possible to help achieve recovery

without unduly restricting

development

 Effective

management of

public access

achieved (see Access

and Transportation

section)

 Management

benefits grizzly

bears by reducing

displacement and

the risk of mortality

(e.g., due to

defence of life and

property or

poaching.)

Access for tenure holders will be maintained.

Roving security areas are approximately 10 square kilometres in size and are expected to be in place for no less than 20 years to limit disturbance to grizzly bears. They are intended to be non-motorized areas that are not open to public motor vehicle use. Industrial motorized use is permitted, subject to conditions (e.g., spring closures).

Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, in cooperation with Ministry of Forests, Ministry of Energy and Mines, Land and Water BC and licensees, will identify the size and location of roving security areas.

Effective access control means mitigating the effects of motorized access. See the Access and Transportation section for direction on access management.

Operational plans will identify the specific control measures needed (e.g., seasonal road closures, tank traps, deconstruction of roads, removing bridges,).
4.2 Concentrate areas of timber harvesting to the greatest extent practicable to minimize open road access using methods such as aggregated cut blocks and other access management strategies
4.3 Provide effective access controls where necessary to achieve roving security areas on road networks within identified watersheds. Where access management fails to achieve roving security areas, minimize open road access and reduce overall road density.
4.4 Seed new roadsides and landings with low palatability species  (remove orchard grass, red clover and alfalfa) where appropriate
4.5 Use the seasonal access maps to identify access management direction for public and industrial use
5. Within identified watersheds, stabilize landscape-level food supply in specific ecosystems 5.1 Maintain naturally occurring non-forested features (avalanche tracks, non-productive brush sites, berry sites) in the non-contributing landbase Food supply stabilized through replanting or restocking of key areas to promote forage or berry production
5.2 Where possible, incorporate prime berry producing sites into wildlife tree patches, provided they have appropriate characteristics
5.3 Maintain grizzly bear forage by managing to minimum stocking standards as targets on selected ecosystems, and carrying out variable inter-tree spacing and/or cluster planting
5.4 Consider designating not satisfactorily restocked areas as grizzly bear forage areas and removing them from the timber harvesting landbase
5.5 In important berry producing areas, minimize the adverse impacts of site preparation and vegetation management (e.g., brushing and weeding) by targeting only the direct competitors with individual crop trees in these areas
5.6 Consider grizzly bear foraging needs in the management of coarse woody debris by retaining larger pieces within the limits of current provincial policy
5.7 Where possible, timber harvesting should occur on a snowpack that would buffer disturbance to Vaccinium species (huckleberries and grouse berries). Where timber harvesting is not done on snowpack, make reasonable efforts to minimize disturbance to Vaccinium species
6.  Maintain the

suitability of

critical grizzly

bear habitats, and

ensure these

habitats have

adequate security

and thermal cover

associated with

them

 6.1  Avoid or mitigate

activity/development (e.g., road

building, timber harvesting, site

preparation) that negatively alters or

reduces the extent of the vegetative

community of critical habitats

 Grizzly bear

management

achieved using the

timber harvesting

land base planning

allowance of 8,000

hectares

 Critical grizzly bear

habitats are areas

with high forage,

bedding or proven

denning value for

grizzly bears,

especially where

these habitats are in

short supply

Critical habitat will

normally be

deferred from forest

development,

including road

construction and

timber harvesting.

However, managers

and planners must

determine if there

are: 1) historic

rights and tenures

of human use on

that area; or 2) if

there are no

practicable

alternatives to

development. If

existing human use

takes precedent or

there are no

practicable

alternatives, then

the prescriptions

should recognize

the inherent critical

habitat status

through application

of appropriate

mitigation and

bear/human conflict

prevention

measures
6.2 Maintain a minimum of a 50 m conifer forested buffer or equivalent forested cover adjacent to critical habitats for security and thermal cover. Buffer non-forested critical habitats with natural configurations of adjacent forest cover
6.3 Where forestry roads cross avalanche chutes, and risk of downslope movement exists, recontour roads after timber harvesting to prevent loss of important grizzly bear habitat
6.4 Where possible, place critical habitats into constrained areas (e.g., old growth management areas)
6.5 Tourism operators should avoid critical grizzly bear habitat when locating new uses, camps, trails or grazing areas
6.6  For mineral exploration, as much as practicable, avoid constructing access roads or blasting in occupied critical habitats in the spring
7.  Manage range

use and grizzly

bear interactions

that can lead to

livestock losses,

bear mortality,

displacement,

habitat alteration

and degradation

 7.1  Consult with the Ministry of

Water, Land and Air Protection

before expansion or issuance of new

cattle and sheep range tenures or

before an increase in animal unit

months within identified watersheds.

Tenure-specific management

strategies may be required to address

bear and cattle/sheep conflicts

 Reduce the

conflicts that lead

to mortality losses

of domestic

livestock and

bears, and

displacement and

habitat loss of

grizzly bears

Manage range

tenures to reduce

impacts. Risk

would be

determined by

factors such as

known occurrences,

suitability of

habitat, and season

of cattle grazing

Not intended to

extinguish licensed

operators; instead,

manage identified

impacts (including

areas where

potential

problems/impacts

have been

identified) from

livestock

This recognizes the

difference in

severity between

grizzly bear

interactions with

cows and sheep

versus those with

horses
7.2  Include management strategies in range use plans that will minimize conflicts, habitat displacement, alteration, degradation and loss
7.3 Manage for grizzly bear forage by setting in range use plans, desired plant communities that favour grizzly bear forage within critical habitats
7.4 Avoid cattle/sheep use of identified critical habitats, especially during the period when grizzly bear use is expected in these habitats, in existing tenures
8. Implement

appropriate

measures to reduce

bear-human

interactions

 8.1  Reduce the availability of non-

natural attractants such as garbage to

grizzly bears by bear-proofing

garbage cans, dumpsters and

landfills

 Grizzly bear

mortality due to

human interactions

decreased
8.2 Require bear-proofing of remote commercial, industrial or research camps
9. Minimize

negative

interactions

between grizzly

bears and

recreational

activities in

identified

watersheds (see

map)

 9.1  Avoid trail or campsite

development in or near critical

habitats to minimize impacts and

mortality risks to bears

 Grizzly bear

mortality due to

human interactions

decreased
9.2 Conduct bear hazard assessments on existing high use trails (more than 10 parties per week) and campgrounds and consider modifications where hazards are moderate or high
9.3 Where existing high use trails cross avalanche chutes (or other critical habitats), or where trail locations are proposed in or near critical habitats, relocate trail locations wherever possible at least 250 metres away from critical habitats
9.4  When improving existing trails or considering new trails, and where relocation is not a practicable option, maintain visual screening between high use trails and critical habitats
9.5  Consider seasonal trail closures to ensure human safety and minimize bear/human conflicts
9.6 Utilize public education and signage to minimize adverse bear human conflicts along high use trails in critical habitats
10. Manage

recreation and

tourism

developments to

minimize

bear/human

conflicts and limit

impacts on grizzly bear populations and habitat

 10.1  Consider potential grizzly

bear/human conflicts and options for

mitigation prior to authorizing new

commercial recreation activities

within grizzly bear identified watersheds.  See the Wildlife-

Commercial Recreation guidelines

on the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection’s website

 The scope, detail,

and extent of

planning and

monitoring will

depend on the scale

and location of the

proposal

Consistent with existing legislation, large-scale

recreation and

tourism

developments will

be examined

through the

environmental

assessment process

This includes

examining

cumulative impacts

during the planning,

review and

monitoring of new

commercial and

non-commercial

recreation

applications, as

well as public

recreation

development (e.g.,

Forest Service

recreation sites,

park improvements)

in identified

watersheds (see

map)
10.2 Avoid fee simple sales of Crown land on or immediately adjacent to critical grizzly bear habitat within identified watersheds
10.3  Refer to relevant memoranda

of understanding or agreements

respecting grizzly bears and

management of their habitats
11. To maintain grizzly bear habitat quality and quantity through time within the area of the plan. 11.1 Finish activities, to the fullest extent possible, within each watershed prior to starting up in an adjacent one to minimize industrial disturbance and human interaction.
11.2 Complete each harvest entry as quickly as possible.
11.3 To manage polygon area 1C(b), (Appendix III Map 9), on a 135 year rotation, 15% removal / 20 year re-entry on the planimetric basis. Planimetric view is the guide for performance assessment. Critical viewpoints must be fixed and (not added to) or adjusted. It is expected that you could achieve recommended VQOs of retention / partial retention from viewpoints predetermined in this plan. If not achievable, the planimetric takes precedence. No other constraining influences, other than those that have been modeled, will apply.
11.4 It is assumed that future determination of VQOs within polygon 1C (b) will guarantee timber access to 100% of the productive forest land base within polygon 1C (b) (subject to other constraints as modeled by the SC Planning Table) over a 135 year rotation. Where VQOs are recommended that are more constraining to operational access than that modeled, VQO recommendations for the remainder of the polygon must be relaxed to accommodate timber access targets developed by the SC Planning Table. It is recommended that the above ‘VQO Relaxation Process’ be completed prior to formal VQO designations in the area.
11.5 Design Blocks with “creating edge” in mind.
12. Apply biodiversity objectives 12.1 It is anticipated that these strategies, along with the application of biodiversity objectives will satisfy grizzly bear habitat requirements.
12.2 Protection and enhancement of shrub layer should be considered in development of harvesting prescriptions and site prep.
12.3 Blocks in areas known to contain resident grizzly bears should be designed with interior Wildlife Tree Patches of at least 2 hectares.
12.4 WTP should be concentrated along riparian corridors, in areas of high shrub production, in wet forest types, along game trails, etc.
12.5 Where there is a choice to either make a number of smaller WTP or fewer larger ones it is generally better to create fewer large patches than a number of small scattered patches.
13. Control access. 13.1 Restrict use of vehicles and ATVs for hunting. (See current hunting regulations and SC Access Management Plan, Section 3.5).
13.2 Minimize non-industrial use of newly constructed roads consistent with the SC Access Management objectives and strategies.
13.3 Minimize road density to only those roads required for ongoing industrial activity.
13.4 Align main roads several hundred metres away from areas known/or suspected to be important foraging, denning, or travel routes (riparian areas, wet forest types, areas of high herbaceous plant or berry production, etc.)
13.5 Deactivate spur roads immediately following harvest as per temporary access provisions under SC Access Management objectives.

Table 3 - Stocking standard guidelines on forage/berry producing site series

Intent:  Applies to all applicable tree species excepting deciduous species.

BEC Unit Site Series Current Target Current Minimum Proposed Target Crop Trees Proposed Minimum Crop Trees Proposed Maximum Total Comments
CWHds1 06 900 500 600 400 700
CWHds1 07 900 500 600 400 700
CWHds1 08 900 500 500 200 600 Floodplain
CWHds1 09 900 500 500 200 600 Floodplain
CWHds1 12 800 400 400 200 500 Skunk cabbage
CWHms1 05 900 500 600 400 700
CWHms1 06 900 500 600 400 700
CWHms1 07 900 500 500 200 600 Floodplain
CWHms1 08 900 500 500 200 600 Floodplain
CWHms1 11 800 400 400 200 500 Skunk cabbage
IDFdk1 06 1000 500 500 300 600
IDFdk2 07 1000 500 500 300 600
IDFww 05 1000 500 500 300 600
IDFww 06 1000 500 500 300 600
IDFww 07 1000 500 400 200 500 Skunk cabbage
IDFww 08 900 500 600 400 700
IDFww 09 900 500 600 400 700
ESSFdc2 01 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFdc2 05 1000 500 500 300 600
ESSFdc2 06 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFdc2 08 1000 500 500 300 600
ESSFdv 01 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFdv 04 1000 500 500 300 600
ESSFdv 06 1000 500 500 300 600
ESSFmw 01 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFmw 04 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFmw 05 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFmw 06 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFmw 07 1000 500 500 300 600
ESSFmw 08 1000 500 500 300 600
ESSFxc 06 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFxv 06 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFxv 07 1200 700 600 400 700
ESSFxv 08 1000 500 500 300 600
ESSFxv 09 1000 500 500 300 600
MSdc 05 1200 700 600 400 700
MSdc 06 1200 700 600 400 700
MSdc 07 1200 700 600 400 700
MSdc 08 1000 500 500 300 600