Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Thursday, February 14, 2008

DEH CHO - New research findings show that unless the Dehcho Land Use Plan is implemented woodland caribou populations could be lost in the southern portion of the Deh Cho.

The Canadian Boreal Initiative released a study on Jan. 30 focused on the possible future effects of resource development in the Mackenzie basin watershed.

"The Mackenzie watershed is a very important area in Canada," said Matt Carlson the science co-ordinator for the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) and one of the authors of the study.

Using a computer model the study, titled "Seeking a Balance: Assessing the Future Impacts of Conservation and Development in the Mackenzie Watershed, looked at what the next 100 years could bring under two different scenarios.

Using a 6.5 million hectare-sized study area in the Athabasca oil sands region in Alberta and 4.5 million hectares in the southern Deh Cho region, the study compared a business as usual approach with an increased conservation approach.

Under the first scenario where resource development increases as planned and conservation levels stay the same the remaining forest was fragmented by roads, seismic lines and well sites, said Carlson.

"There will be profound changes in these areas," he said.

The study found that the changes would lead to the loss of woodland caribou in both areas and a decline in a number of songbird species populations that rely on old growth forests, Carlson said.

In the second scenario the study increased the conservation levels in Alberta from three to six per cent and implemented the proposed Dehcho Land Use Plan. With that plan in place conservation levels in the Deh Cho rose from zero to 48 per cent.

With fewer industrial disturbances the woodland caribou population can be maintained in the Deh Cho and the rate of songbird decline can be slowed, said Carlson. The increase in conservation failed to secure woodland caribou in the Alberta study area.

The two regions were chosen for the study because of the different levels of resource development found in each.

"They provided an interesting contrast," Carlson said.

In the Athabasca area most of the region has already been allocated to resource development, said Carlson. This contrasted with the Deh Cho where there is gas potential but few areas allocated to development.

The findings show that the Dehcho Land Use Plan is able to balance development with conservation goals, said Carlson. Under the conservation scenario the levels of development were still allowed to increase so it's not about stopping development, Carlson said.

The Deh Cho has the opportunity to plan a balanced approach to conservation and development before it's too late, he said.

"I think it emphasizes the real conservation opportunities in the Northwest Territories," Carlson said.