Boreal Caribou ATK from Big Island First Nation

Transcription

1 SASKATCHEWAN For metadata associated with mapping products found in the following reports, please refer to Annex 2: Metadata Information for Maps in ATK Summary Reports for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta.

2 Boreal Caribou ATK from Big Island First Nation Intro: This info collected for Environs Canada titled Gathering Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Enviroment Canada s National Boreal Caribou Recovery Stategy and Recovery Planning Process was done by Archie Sundown. The process taken by the interviewer was first to select the elders and hunters and people who had knowledge of the boreal caribou, with that done, tobacco was purchased to be given to each interviewee before each was to share their thoughts and whatever dealings they had with caribou. In total nine individuals were interviewed over a 15 day period. Habitat use: For the Boreal Caribou the type of plants they rely on are called caribou moss, plankton, twigs. They feed on the same as what moose would eat. As for the features of the land, they prefer to feed and stay in Muskeg and tree covered areas. Population Trends: From the response and feedback I get from the interviews, they haven t seen much decline or increase in numbers of caribou in the Northern Part or surrounding areas of the Big Island Lake Cree Territory. As for the survival of calves it s assumed it is the same as there is no strong increase of Caribou being seen around this area. To get to see the caribou at their habitat, one has to travel further up north of the reserve to see them. Threats: From talking to people, the most dominant threat to caribou would be the encroachment of roads, land clearing and development of gas wells and thereby driving them up further North. And shorter growing seasons also effects the growth of what they feed on, this probably is due to climate change. Habitat Change: The changes is habitat is caused by the presence of Oil & Gas industry, these land clearing and road building has regulated the caribou to search further north for shelter and food. Predation: There is an increase both in population of Boreal Caribou and predators reports of seeing more wolves, bears and especially deer are being heard by people that travel those areas and hunt there, abundance of prey such as deer is evident in the high number of vehicle collision with these animals. There is no certain numbers of Boreal Caribou accounted for on the Big Island Lake Cree Nation, there is the odd one every few years seen in the vicinity but no large herd has ever been seen. As for the people to depend on it for sustenance is very low as people hunt moos and deer for their use. For a person to encounter boreal caribou one has to go further north of the reserve around the bombing range. Overharvesting: In our area there is no sign of overharvesting of Boreal Caribou. As for protecting and conserving Boreal Caribou, the elders think the population of Boreal Caribou is at a number where there is no significant difference in increase or decrease in the herd population. As a result of this study, there seems to be no significant

3 impact the caribou has on the people of Big Island Lake. As the people don t rely on caribou as a food source.

4 Gathering Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Environment Canada s National Boreal Caribou Recovery Strategy and Recovery Planning Process. I.Introduction A. Barry Opekokew collected the information with a total of 20 traditional land users and elders from the 3 surrounding communities including Canoe Lake Cree First Nation, Jans Bay, Cole Bay B. Questionnaires provided a solid case for identification of sensitive sites and habitat of the Boreal woodland caribou and implementing onto a provided map. C. Most of the interviews were done in the Cree language and translated by Barry Opekokew into the report.

5 II. Mapping Exercise: Winter, summer and calving grounds were identified in 3 primary areas: A. The first one being in the north area of Canoe Lake from parker lake and grubb lake areas extending into the air weapons range all within lowlands and muskegs. This area is protecting itself with limited access, the sighting of a large herd early this year attests to the herd survival skills. The sighting was on the highway 903 around the kilometer 135 mark. There is a significant change at different times because they are easy to harvest right off the road by the traffic from Dillon and local that use the road to go south to meadow lake. The herd is somewhat distinguishable, We would call them the Bombing range herd. B. Secondly toward the East side of Canoe Lake and north of Amyotte Lake lies a muskeg that is south of the canoe river, this area holds a different herd approximately between Canoe Lake and Ile a la crosse winter snowmobile trail. This herd is vulnerable during the winter because of the use of the snowmobile trail passing through the muskegs. They are distinguishable by being very wild, They would need to be protected further. We can call them the snowmobile trail herd. C. Thirdly, we have the big muskeg south of the keeley river along the highway 965, this is a area for calving, and both winter and summer grounds, this area the elders call the Durocher lake muskegs herd. They are vulnerable near the road but that past couple decades have seem to push them further in, A very large muskeg with some highlands provide a big territory for this herd.

6 III.Habitat Use Basically in the black spruce and tamarack areas of the muskegs, lots of bog, fens, Labrador tea, and lichens along with willow and alder and white birch. They seem to use the lichen and low muskeg vegetation in the winter and summer months. Always in wet areas in summer, but there are little islands of jack pine that they will occupy in winter. IV.Population Trends and threats The woodland caribou in all areas of canoe lake have fluctuated but more significantly to low numbers, The elder population interviewed said there was a lot more caribou in the early 70 s to earlier times before the roads. They would see caribou from outside the cabins at keeley river. The calves have a hard time to survive now. The basic threat that is immediate is man or man made disturbances such as ski doo trails, roads, logging, even the jets that fly by because we are next to the Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range. The wolves would be the next predators that would be a threat to the calves, and the high snow winters are easier for the wolves to catch a adult caribou(s). People can easily overharvest any given herd at anytime especially in the rut season of August. The climate change is also been different from the times when the elders were younger, a bit of the natural change like forest fires make the change for caribou look elsewhere for food and habitat. V. Traditional practises The stories told about rules are basically take what you need which was usually one animal per family, but when

7 people were sent out to hunt for 2 or 3 families then a number of around 3 or 4 were harvested for food. Under the old ways of conservation from the elders point of view would maybe help in the conservation and protection of the caribou. The meat of choice is moose meat. VI. Concerns and comments. A. Control the wolves, they seem to be coming closer to the community this year, watch for diseases that we may not know about, they must have or get some diseases, It would be beneficial to the herds if some sort of study or research was done. With proper management we can assist these herds to have a fighting chance to increase. Have this yearly to go in and research the caribou, one that would be beneficial to the government and us local people would be a study of the caribou within the Air Weapons Range. One interview stated there was lots of sign in the south side of the AWR when they were hunting a couple years ago. Lots of access into the habitat is dangerous, it is good they reclaim the roads right after logging but it is in the winter that is open because of atv s and snowmobiles. Maybe different policies for the provincial government that allow reclaimed areas to be less accessible. Of course the air activity in the spring is a major concern from the AWR, the increase in the noise is bad for the calves because they are just born. The northern people harvest every caribou they see that use the highway 903 north. One elder stated that we should try this thing he seen on tv where they monitored the actions of some caribou by radio collars, while another says just leave them alone.

8 English River First Nation: English River First Nation, ATK Summary Report

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11 English River First Nation, Saskatchewan: Boreal Caribou Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge (March, 2011) Cree River Wollaston Lake Cree Lake Stony Narrows Cree Lake 36 Richardson Clearwater 61 3 Sandy Lake Highrock-Key 18 1 Turnor Lake La Loche West La Loche Birch Narrows First Nation Turnor Lake Birch Narrows First Nation Lac La Loche Garson Lake Frobisher Lake East Side Athabasca River Porter Lake Steephill-Foster Flatstone Lake Indian Village 25 May Lake 24George Lake Paull Lake Little Flatstone Lake Peter Pond Lake Buffalo River Dene NationDillon Dillon Lake 23 Legend Churchill Lake Shagwenaw Lake Patuanak Dipper Lake Buffalo Narrows English River First Nation Primeau Lake Knee Lake 65 Primrose-Cold Lake 64 Black Bay Kazan Lake Eulas Lake Lac Ile-à-la-Crosse Ile-a-la-Crosse 21 Shadd Lake Black Bear Island Lake Bar Lake Besnard Lake Smoothstone-Wapawekka Morning Lake Watapi Lake 22 Canoe Lake Cole Bay Arsenault Lake 0 20 Primrose Lake KM Macallum Lake Beauval Lac la Plonge Principal Highway Limited Us e Road Sandfly Lake Pinehouse LakePinehouse Lake Brabant Lake Local Road Secondary Highway McTavish Lake Hepburn Lake Campbell Lake Vermette Lake Upper Cumins Lake Keith Lake Gordon Lake 20 Brabant Lake F Caribou Use!. / " Towns First Nation Communities Trail Water Body Cut Line Water Course Railroad Boreal Region Provincial Boundaries Map Reference Missinipe LLRIB - Grandmother's Northwest Nunav utbay Territories Otter Lake Mountain Lake Stanley Mission LLRIB - Stanley Mission Wood Lake LLRIB - Sucker River Clam Lake Nemeiben Lake Wadin Bay Lac la Ronge Britis h La Ronge Columbia LLRIB - Lac La Ronge Egg Lake Bigstone Lake Suggi-Amisk-Kississing Alberta Sask atchewan Manitoba Ontario Brownell Lake

12 English River First Nation, Saskatchewan: Boreal Caribou Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge (March, 2011) Indian Village Wollaston Lake Cree River Cree Lake 47 Clearwater Stony Narrows Highrock-Key Sandy Lake Turnor Lake Legend Turnor Lake Birch Narrows First Nation Principal Highway Secondary Highway Frobisher Lake Indian Village Peter Pond Lake Churchill Lake Dillon Buffalo River Dene Nation Buffalo Narrows 0 15 Vermette Lake KM Limited Us e Road Porter Lake 83 Flatstone Lake Primrose-Cold Lake F Local Road Trail Steephill-Foster Provincial Boundaries Smoothstone-Wapawekka Lac Ile-à-la-Crosse Black Bay Water Body Map Reference Northwest Territories Paull Lake 84 First Nation Communities May Lake Boreal Region Railroad George Lake Towns Water Course Cut Line Little Flatstone Lake Patuanak Dipper Lake English River First Nation Shagwenaw Lake Primeau Lake Knee Lake Caribou Previous Use!. / " Gordon Lake Pinehouse Lake Sandfly Lake Campbell Lake Brabant Lake Brabant Lake Keith Lake Eulas Lake McTavish Lake Nunav ut Hepburn Lake Britis h Columbia Alberta Sask atchewan Manitoba Ontario

13 English River First Nation, Saskatchewan: Boreal Caribou Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge (March, 2011) Black Lake Davy-Athabasca Wollaston Lake Cree River Clearwater Cree Lake Cree Lake 67 Highrock-Key Legend F Local Road Principal Highway Secondary Highway Stony Narrows Limited Us e Road Disturbance!. / " Trail Water Body Boreal Region Railroad 62 First Nation Communities Water Course Cut Line Sandy Lake Towns Map Reference Provincial Boundaries Northwest Territories Nunav ut Steephill-Foster Turnor Lake Primrose-Cold Lake Frobisher Lake 60 KM Britis h Columbia Alberta Sask atchewan Manitoba Ontario

14 English River First Nation, Saskatchewan: Boreal Caribou Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge (March, 2011) Cree River 74 Clearwater Cree Lake Highrock-Key 69 Cree Lake Legend Local Road Principal Highway Secondary Highway Limited Use Road Trail Other F!. Towns "/ First Nation Communities Water Body Cut Line Water Course Railroad Boreal Region Provincial Boundaries Map Reference Northwest Territories Nunavut Stony Narrows KM British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Ontario

15 FID Shape * ConsultName ConsultID Type Season CaribouUse Disturbance Class CWSRegion Date Notes 0 Polygon English River FN 1 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 2 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 3 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 4 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 5 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 6 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 7 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 8 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 9 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 11 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 12 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 13 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 14 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 15 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 16 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 17 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 Caribou around - but mostly burn area 16 Polygon English River FN 18 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 Lots of woodland caribou - very good but some burn areas 17 Polygon English River FN 19 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 Caribou around - but mostly burn area 18 Polygon English River FN 20 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 Caribou around - but mostly burn area 19 Polygon English River FN 21 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 Lots of woodland caribou - very good but some burn areas 20 Polygon English River FN 22 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 23 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 24 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 25 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 26 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 27 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 28 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 29 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 30 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 31 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 32 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 33 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 34 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 35 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 36 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 37 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 38 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 39 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 40 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 41 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 42 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 43 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 44 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 45 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 46 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 47 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 48 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 49 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 50 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 51 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 52 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 53 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 54 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 55 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon Englsih River FN 56 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 57 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 58 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 59 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011

16 58 Polygon English River FN 60 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 61 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/ Polygon English River FN 62 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 This area was good for woodland caribou in interviewee's younger years - today most of it is burned 61 Polygon Englsh River FN 63 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 This area was good for woodland caribou in interviewee's younger years 62 Polygon English River FN 64 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 This area was good for woodland caribou in interviewee's younger years 63 Polygon English River FN 65 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 This area was good for woodland caribou in interviewee's younger years 64 Polygon English River FN 66 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 Burn area 65 Polygon English River FN 67 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 Burn area - good for hunting (not indicated for which species') 66 Polygon English River FN 68 Caribou Use Calving PNR 3/28/2011 Only area today good for calving and hunting (not indicated for hunting which species') - not burned 67 Polygon English River FN 69 Other PNR 3/28/2011 This area used to be good for caribou 68 Polygon English River FN 70 Other PNR 3/28/2011 This area used to be good for caribou 69 Polygon English River FN 71 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 Burn area 70 Polygon English River FN 72 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 Burn area 71 Polygon English River FN 73 Other PNR 3/28/2011 This area used to be good for caribou 72 Polygon English River FN 74 Other PNR 3/28/2011 This area used to be good for caribou 73 Polygon English River FN 75 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 Burn area - good for hunting (not indicated for which species') 74 Polygon English River FN 76 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 Population and hunting area - most of which was better in the past. 75 Polygon English River FN 77 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 Burn area 76 Polygon English River FN 78 Disturbance F PNR 3/28/2011 Burn area 77 Polygon English River FN 79 Caribou Use PNR 3/28/2011 Area very rich with caribou 78 Polygon English River FN 80 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/2011 Areas previously good for caribou and previously hunted for caribou 79 Polygon English River FN 81 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/2011 Areas previously good for caribou and previously hunted for caribou 80 Polygon English River FN 82 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/2011 Areas previously good for caribou and previously hunted for caribou 81 Polygon English River FN 83 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/2011 Areas previously good for caribou and previously hunted for caribou 82 Polygon English River FN 84 Caribou Previous Use PNR 3/28/2011 Areas previously good for caribou and previously hunted for caribou

17 Métis Nation Saskatchewan Acknowledgement Environment Canada would like to acknowledge Métis Nation Saskatchewan for preparing a summary report with the Aboriginal traditional knowledge shared by Northern Region 1, Northern Region 2, Northern Region 3, Eastern Region 1, Eastern Region 2, Western Region 1 and Western Region 2 to support the development of the national recovery strategy for Woodland caribou, boreal population (boreal caribou). The knowledge shared in their report was used to inform the recovery strategy for boreal caribou but has not been presented in this public compilation report.

18 Prince Albert Grand Council Acknowledgement Environment Canada would like to acknowledge Prince Albert Grand Council for preparing a summary report with the Aboriginal traditional knowledge shared by knowledge holders residing in Stanley Mission, Hall Lake, Southend, Red Earth, Pelican Narrows, La Ronge, Shoal Lake, Grandmothers Bay, Molanosa, Cumberland House, Montreal Lake, Sandy Bay, Sturgeon Landing, Brabant Lake and Fort a La Corne to support the development of the national recovery strategy for Woodland caribou, boreal population (boreal caribou). The knowledge shared in their report was used to inform the recovery strategy for boreal caribou but has not been presented in this public compilation report.

19 Prince Albert Grand Council Athabasca Region Acknowledgement Environment Canada would like to acknowledge Prince Albert Grand Council Athabasca Region for preparing a summary report with the Aboriginal traditional knowledge shared by Fond du Lac First Nation, Black Lake Denesuline First Nation and Hatchet Lake Dene First Nation to support the development of the national recovery strategy for Woodland caribou, boreal population (boreal caribou). The knowledge shared in their report was used to inform the recovery strategy for boreal caribou but has not been presented in this public compilation report.