PART B: 5th American Caribou Workshop, 19-21 March 1991, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

Abstract

The secondary effects of these habitat changes, (i.e. increased roads leading to increased hunting and poaching, and increased early succession habitat leading to increased alternate prey/predator densities) has led in some cases to the total loss or decreased size of local herds. Three ecotypes of woodland caribou are described and their relative distribution delineated. These ecotypes live under different environmental conditions and require different inventory and management approaches. Woodland caribou herds in northern B.C., Yukon and N.W.T. generally are of good numbers and viable (stable or increasing), and management primarily is directed at regulating human harvest and natural predation to prevent, herd declines. Land use activities such as logging or energy development are not extensive. Managers in southern caribou ranges stress the need for a better understanding of caribou population stability within mixed prey/predator regimes; how habitat changes (eg. through logging) affect these regimes; and how to develop effective land use guidelines for resource extraction that can sustian caribou populations and maintain resource industries. Caribou managers have suggested that herds may be priorized for research and management efforts. Unstable, remnant populations may be left to their own fate. The limited research dollars available and difficult management decisions should be applied to caribou herds that are apparently sustainable and provide the greatest potential for long-term viability.