A partnership agreement to recover the endangered central group of southern mountain caribou was signed today by Chiefs of the West Moberly First Nations and Saulteau First Nations and Ministers of the British Columbia and Canadian governments.
The partnership agreement has a 30-year term and is the first of its kind in Canada.
Approximately 2 million acres of land will be placed into protected areas. Caribou habitat in these zones of the partnership agreement will not be disturbed by new industrial development activities.
The partnership agreement also establishes a Caribou Recovery Committee, which will be staffed by officials from the four governments and will operate on a consensus-basis. The Caribou Recovery Committee will review applications in the other areas covered by the partnership agreement. Proposed development in these zones must meet stringent mitigation requirements and be consistent with the goal of stabilizing and recovering self-sustaining caribou populations.
The partnership agreement is centred around the Klinse-za (Twin Sisters) mountains and the Klinse-za caribou herd. In 2013, the herd numbered just 16 animals and was facing imminent extirpation. West Moberly and Saulteau began a maternal penning program to give newborn calves a better chance of escaping predators. Along with habitat restoration and a combination of scientific and traditional management measures, the Klinse-za population has now risen to over 80 animals. The partnership agreement promises long-term support for these recovery efforts, including multi-year funding for maternal penning, habitat restoration, and an Indigenous Guardians program.
ENGAGEMENT
The signing of the partnership agreement follows nearly 12 months of engagement with local governments and residents, industry, environmental organizations, wildlife experts, neighbouring First Nations, and the public. Working groups have been established to support implementation of the partnership agreement, with several local governments actively participating in the design of forestry-related mitigations, snowmobile management plans, and the review of socio-economic impacts.
With a negotiated partnership agreement now in place, the federal government is unlikely to impose an emergency order onto lands within the Peace region, a prospect which posed serious and unpredictable risks to local industry and jobs.
Contrary to false rumours spread in an online petition, and repeated by some local politicians, the partnership agreement will not close hiking, fishing or camping sites in the backcountry, and will not shut down mills, mines, or pipelines. Socio-economic impact assessments have been conducted by the provincial and federal governments. West Moberly has been assured that resources are in place to address impacted tenure holders and to support local communities.
BACKGROUND
West Moberly’s Dunne-za (Beaver) ancestors entered Treaty No. 8 in 1914. The Treaty promises protection for wildlife and the ability to hunt as freely as before entering the Treaty. There was to be no forced interference with the First Nations’ traditional way of life. West Moberly Elders remember a time when a “sea of caribou” could be seen moving throughout the Peace region, with herds so large the animals were “like bugs”.
But since then, the Peace region has been besieged by decades of habitat destruction. Megadams, clearcuts, coal mines, pipelines, oil and gas wells, along with tens of thousands of kilometres of power lines, roads, trails, and seismic lines have destroyed sensitive habitats, severed migration routes, and upset predator-prey relationships. In the 1970s, Elders imposed their own hunting moratoriumnmoratorium to help the caribou recover. West Moberly members have not harvested the animals since that time.
In the early 2000s, West Moberly began working with Elders to gather traditional knowledge about caribou (“wah tzee” in the Dunne-za language). This knowledge was recorded in community reports, such as “I Want to Eat Caribou Before I Die”. In 2009, West Moberly commenced legal proceedings to protect the Burnt Pine herd of southern mountain caribou from a coal mine proposed within sensitive alpine habitat in the absence of any provincial caribou recovery plan. The court suspended the project on the basis of West Moberly’s Treaty right to harvest caribou according to its traditional seasonal round.
West Moberly then joined together with Saulteau First Nations and Wildlife Infometrics in 2013 to begin a maternal penning program for the Klinse-za herd. The program has expanded to include habitat modelling, habitat restoration, wolf removal, caribou feeding, scientific research, and, now, habitat protection under the partnership agreement.
Southern mountain caribou populations remain small, scattered and vulnerable. Obstacles to recovery abound. But the new resources, protections and management approaches under the partnership agreement demonstrate hope that a “sea of caribou” might once again roam the Peace region, and that traditional ways of living with caribou might survive.
QUOTES
Chief Roland Willson: “For thousands of years, the caribou have given us food, clothes, and tools to survive harsh winters. They are not just animals to us. They are our brothers and sisters, our friends and our ancestors. The caribou have been suffering for decades as their habitat is destroyed piece by piece. They need us now, all of us. This partnership agreement gives us hope. It means that help is on the way.”
Chief Roland Willson: “To my fellow elected representatives of the Peace region, I thank each of you that worked productively with us at the Leaders Table and during engagement on this agreement over the last year. Now, the real work begins. Several doors have been opened for you to participate in implementation. We look forward to this collaboration, and to joint efforts dispelling myths, combating racism, and promoting a region rich in wildlife, culture, and sustainable economic activity.”
THANKS
West Moberly expresses deep gratitude and thanks to all of the individuals and groups that have worked on the partnership agreement and are collaborating in various ways to support the recovery of southern mountain caribou. Special thanks to:
- Chief Cameron and the Saulteau First Nations Council for their friendship, leadership and partnership
- Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Premier John Horgan, Minister Doug Donaldson, Minister George Heyman, Minister Bruce Ralston, and the senior federal and provincial officials for their leadership and dedication to collaboration
- Wildlife Infometrics, the West Moberly and Saulteau Lands Departments, and the Klinse-za Guardians for harnessing knowledge from scientific frontiers and traditional reservoirs
- The Elders and other knowledge-holders whose wisdom and advice have guided each success
- Each of the facilitators and negotiators that helped prepare the partnership agreement;
- The Doig River, Fort Nelson, Halfway River, and Prophet River First Nations for their support of the partnership agreement
- Yellowstone to Yukon, David Suzuki Foundation, Wildsight, Greenpeace Canada, CPAWS, Wilderness Committee, Sierra Club of BC, and Ecojustice for their commitment to conservation
- Amnesty International and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs for calling on B.C. and Canada to address the racist backlash that followed release of the draft partnership agreement
- The many industry representatives, local residents, and local elected representatives that have engaged respectfully, honestly and constructively on the partnership agreement
- The thousands of people across Canada that have written letters and otherwise supported both the goal of recovering caribou and the path of true reconciliation
