FWCP External Projects Delivered by Stakeholders and First Nations

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1 FWCP External Projects Delivered by Stakeholders and First Nations For more information contact FWCP-Columbia program manager, Trevor Oussoren

2 FWCP External Projects Delivered by Stakeholders and First Nations Wildlife Project: Blueprint for Action Proponent: Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resource Society Previous editions of the Blueprint for Action (2000 and 2006) have helped prioritize on-the-ground conservation activities to maintain and restore fire-maintained ecosystems in the East Kootenay and Upper Columbia Valley. This new edition will help contribute to the knowledge base of fire-maintained ecosystems, and improve the planning of conservation operations in the future that will help a variety of species including the American badger, Lewis woodpecker, bighorn sheep, elk, mule and white-tailed deer. Project: Abundance and Connectivity of Wolverine (Gulo gulo) in the Kootenay Region Proponent: Seepanee Ecological Consulting Wolverines are provincially Blue-listed (vulnerable) and some have suggested that current mortality rates are unsustainable. The project seeks to fill-in significant data gaps by assessing the abundance, connectivity, and broad-scale habitat use of wolverines in the Selkirk and Purcell mountain ranges. FWCP-Columbia will be supporting this final year of wolverine sampling, to be undertaken in the Central Selkirks. The data gathered will help support wolverine conservation and management, and to identify linkages and habitat for protection. Project: South Selkirk Grizzly Bear Habitat Assessment and Security Enhancement Proponent: Birchdale Ecological This project aims to facilitate full recovery of the threatened South Selkirk s grizzly bear population. It will research, develop, and, ultimately, implement workable management plans to recover the population to become self-sustaining. Project: Assessing Population Connectivity and Sustainability Among Priority Furbearer Populations in the Columbia Basin Proponent: Ministry of Environment Using landscape genetic analyses, the project will identify population units of priority furbearers (wolverines, American martens, fishers and North American rivers otters) in the Columbia Basin as assess the effects of hydro-electric development on the gene flow within the region. This information will be used to help wildlife managers and trappers better evaluate sustainable harvest levels these wide ranging, low density species of conservation concern. Project: Ecology of a Focal Wetland Species: the Western Painted Turtle in the Creston Valley Proponent: VAST Resource Solutions Inc. The western painted turtle is a provincially and federally-designated species of conservation concern. This project seeks to better understand the status of western painted turtle populations and habitats in the Creston Valley, and the results will help guide local and regional land management to support future conservation measures. 2

3 Project: Riparian and Wetland Habitat Restoration Plans for the Lower Goat River Proponent: Masse Environmental Consultants Ltd. The goal of the project is to restore ecological and cultural values within the riparian and wetland areas of the Goat River South Channel, near Creston. It will achieve this through the preparation of habitat restoration plans that will provide a critical framework for implementing restoration activities. Project: Kinsman Beach Restoration Phase III. Proponent: Lake Windermere Ambassadors Society The Kinsmen Beach Restoration Project aims to prevent erosion, restore native riparian habitat for fish and wildlife, increase recreational opportunities for fishing and wildlife viewing, and provide environmental education opportunities. Phase III further contributes to protecting fish and wildlife in one of the few remaining free-flowing sections of the Columbia River Basin. Project: Meadow Creek Bear Education and Management Project Proponent: BC Conservation Foundation This project combines community education with less-lethal bear management tools and grizzly bear research to reduce human-bear conflicts and associated grizzly bear mortalities in the Duncan-Lardeau area. This will allow grizzly bears safe access to kokanee at the Meadow Creek Spawning Channel (which operations are also funded by the FWCP) and safe movement among natural habitats in the area. Project: Lewis Woodpecker Nesting Surveys in First Nations Reserves of the East Kootenay Proponent: Nupqu Development Corporation Nupqu will conduct Lewis woodpecker nesting surveys, following the implementation of several ecosystem restoration projects (for the purpose of fuel reduction), during the spring and summer of This will provide a baseline measure of woodpecker nesting in the ecosystem restorations sites, as well as in all three of the reserves: Tobacco Plains, St Mary s and Akisqnuk. Project: Decision Support Tools for the Columbia Basin form the BC Breeding Bird Atlas Proponent: Bird Studies Canada The project will provide the region with a new suite of bird and habitat conservation decision support tools based on the most comprehensive and current all-bird mapping project in the province. The products will help guide the FWCP and decision makers implement action plans for birds and habitat and provide a framework for measuring progress in the future. Project: Wetlands on Wheels: Conservation in the West Kootenay Proponent: BC Wildlife Federation The BCCF will help build the capacity of West Kootenay residents to enhance, protect, and construct wetlands through the delivery of several workshops, including a Working Group Session, a Wetlands Institute Workshop, and a Map our Marshes workshop. Project: Testing Effects of Reseeding and Fertilizer to Enhance Grassland Restoration Treatments in the East Kootenay Proponent: Nupqu Development Corporation The goal of this project is to apply various treatment types for ecosystem restoration - blanket application of seed, fertilizer, and grazing exclosures (areas where grazing animals are excluded) and assess them as a means to speed recovery of grassland ecosystems. Based on the project s findings, recommendations will be made for the use of each one, and interpret how they relate to habitat restoration and grazing land recovery in the Eat Kootenay Trench as a whole. 3

4 Fisheries Project: Arrow Lakes Reservoir Bull Trout Redd Counts Proponent: John Hagen and Associates The goal of this project is to estimate spawner distribution and abundance of bull trout within the Arrow Lakes Reservoir basin in the fall of It will also utilize the redd count data, in conjunction with previous data collected between 2006 and 2011, to evaluate the sustainability of current harvest levels, the state of current ecological conditions, and the ability of creel survey methodology to reliably indicate spawner population status. Project: Slocan Lake Bull Trout Spawning Survey Proponent: Mountain Water Research This is a pilot study to conduct bull trout spawner and redd counts on Slocan Lake tributaries, and determine the feasibility of using redd counts as a population monitoring tool in the future to help inform management decisions, and conservation of bull trout. Project: Pass (Norns) Creek Fish Habitat Enhancement Structure Monitoring Proponent: Okanagan Nation Alliance The goal is to monitor fish enhancement structures, built in Norns Creek in that improve gravel deposition, improving spawning habitat, and cover for young salmonids. Monitoring of these structures for stability and functionality, along with summer-time fish use, will help determine the need for maintenance and improvements. Project: Kootenay Lake Exploitation Study 2012 Proponent: Poisson Consulting Ltd. This project will estimate the natural fishing mortality of large (greater than 50cm) rainbow trout and bull trout in order to help inform management decisions. It will also provide important information on fish life history and habitat use in the lake as well as spawner tributary use and residence times. Project: Determination of Gerrard Rainbow Trout Parr Productivity and Capacity Required for Defining Management Reference Points: Specifically the Stocks Compensatory Capacity This project will provide informative, quantitative data on stock dynamics to assist with managing the trophy Gerrard rainbow trout fishery in Kootenay Lake. Defining the reproductive performance and capacity of this stock will assist in better understanding the rearing environment and the impact of the recreational fishery on this unique ecotype. Project: Kootenay Lake Adfluvial Bull Trout Monitoring The objective of this project is to provide a performance measure for evaluating the response of bull trout to the Nutrient Restoration Program in Kootenay Lake. It will conduct redd counts on a number of select Kootenay Lake tributaries, and will help continue to develop a long-term time series for monitoring bull trout. 4

5 Project: Feasibility of Obtaining In-lake Predator Estimates from Hydroacoustics on Kootenay Lake The project will assess the feasibility of utilizing hydroacoustic data to estimate in-lake predator populations in Kootenay Lake by analysing existing depth and hydroacoustic data. It will also assess uncertainty around in-lake predator estimates for rainbow and bull trout on Kootenay Lake, and address sources of uncertainty in estimates and provide recommendations for improvements. Project: Bull Trout Spawner Escapement in the Salmo River Watershed 2013 Proponent: Salmo Watershed Streamkeepers Society (SWSS) The SWSS will continue to monitor bull trout escapement (adult returns to the spawning areas) in the Salmo River watershed using redd counts that have been in operation since Monitoring of this population is critical because of continuing low adult population numbers surveyed during the last six years. Project: Sheep Creek Fertilization: The Food for Fish Enhancement Project Proponent: Salmo Watershed Streamkeepers Society Fertilizer will be applied to Sheep Creek at a single release point about 11km from the stream mouth during the summer and extending into October. Increasing nutrients in Sheep Creek can increase benthic invertebrate counts, which then increases the available food supply. This low-level fertilization of Sheep Creek will support juvenile bull trout in the Salmo River Watershed. Project: Murphy Creek Spawning and Rearing Channel Restoration Proponent: Trail Wildlife Association The TWA, in partnership with the Okanagan Nation Alliance, proposes to restore the artificial rainbow trout spawning and rearing channel adjacent to the main stem of Murphy Creek. It will initially assess existing habitat conditions, and then an engineered plan for the upper portion of the spawning channel, including the water intake structure and settling pond, will be developed. Project: Love my Lake Columbia Basin Proponent: Wildsight I Love My Lake is a social outreach and education project aimed at creating a mainstream water stewardship ethic and culture in the Kootenay region, which will facilitate the implementation of water science for the long-term health of local lakes. It includes a series of outreach tools and workshops designed to educate lake communities about the best practices in shoreline management, and encourage public participation in local planning initiatives to better protect existing ecological values. 5