Plants cut at different times produce resprouts that vary in their nutritional value relative to when they are cut. To determine how vegetation management in transportation (road and rail) corridors at different times of the year could influence browse quality in the years following cutting, and how this could potentially influence encounters between herbivores and vehicles, we undertook a 3-year study. In 2001, at a wildlife viewing area near Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, we established a control area and treatment areas where shrubs and trees that are used as food by moose (Alces alces) were cut at the beginning of June, July, August, September, and October. In the fall, moose were most often observed browsing the resprouts of plants cut in August (years 1 and 2 post-treatment) and September (year 3). Cumulative winter track counts were highest in the uncut control area in the years following cutting. Spring pellet counts revealed that most pellets were deposited in the uncut (years 1 and 2) and August-cut (year 3) areas during winter. With the exception of the first year after cutting, browse removal by moose was highest for plants cut later in the growing season. Overall, our findings suggest that following cutting, plants cut later in the year are selected more often by moose relative to those cut earlier. To reduce browse use of corridor vegetation in areas where concerns for moose-vehicle collisions exist, we recommend that vegetation maintenance activities be conducted in the early summer months of June and July.

Caribou in southeastern and east central British Columbia generally use old-growth forests rather than clearcuts or immature stands. During winter, they subsist on arboreal lichens, which are most abundant in old growth. The Mountain Caribou in Managed Forests program was initiated to adress the question: can forest stands be managed, through silvicultural systems and habitat enhancement techniques, to provide both timber and caribou habitat? The program includes radiotelemetry, habitat capability mapping, habitat management trials, and development of an integrated strategy. The management trials are aimed at maintaining arboreal lichens and other key habitat attributes in managed stands. The strategy development component involves wildlife biologists and foresters in developing and implementing solutions to logging-caribou conflicts.

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A relatively rapid and simple cryostat method developed to process incisor teeth of Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus, Richardson) for analysis in age-determination studies is described. The simplicity of the sectioning technique promises the method broad applicability in studies attempting to establish objective age characteristics within large mammal populations.