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Aerial Photography by Ken Lumbis
Wetlands of the Forest
Exploring
Ducks Unlimited's
Western Boreal Forest Initiative
By Shel Zolkewich
There's a swath of habitat that stretches across Canada's four western provinces and two territories that was given plenty of attention by Ducks Unlimited in the past year. And for good reason. The western boreal forest covers 766,000 square miles and at least 20 per cent of that area is made up of large wetland complexes. In Alberta alone, there are 80 million acres of boreal forest with 25 million wetland acres tucked among the white spruce and aspen. And where there is water, there is wildlife.
Ducks Unlimited Canada's Western Boreal Forest Initiative (WBFI) was launched in the summer of 1997 to take a good, hard look at the factors affecting this immense landscape. It's a region that ranks third of the 25 most important and threatened waterfowl habitat areas on the continent. The great plains and prairie pothole region ranked number one and the wintering grounds of the central valley of California ranked number two.
Ducks Unlimited is interested in finding the most productive wetlands in the boreal forest, which for the most part are those located off the Canadian Shield. Although wetlands are abundant on the shield, more than 90 per cent in the area are peatlands and rank low in productivity for water birds.
In recent years, the boreal forest has seen increased forestry, oil and gas, mining, agricultural and recreational activity. But because this vast area has never been studied on a large scale, the impact of these activ-ities remains largely unknown. The WBFI will bring together industry, government, universities, foundations and other agencies who share DU's goal of protecting these important boreal wetlands and sustaining their values and functions. It's an effort that will require either funds or expertise from each party.
The initiative is being spearheaded by DU's Gary Stewart, conservation programs biologist based in Edmonton. He said the WBFI is a project that will take Ducks Unlimited into the next decade and beyond. "This is definitely a long-term undertaking."
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| The red boundary outlines the primary water bird areas within Ducks Unlimited's Western Boreal Forest Initiative. Map by Jane Horb |
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| Conifers and deciduous trees create the typical mixture of upland forest habitat in the area. |
DU has identified three priorities in launching this initiative. The first step is to find out what kinds of wetlands exist in the boreal forest and where they are. "You can't begin to manage something before you know what it is, where it is and what its values and function are," Stewart said.
DU proposes to use satellites to collect images of land cover, then use geographic information systems (GIS) to transfer the data into maps. Ducks Unlimited, Inc. in the United States has used this process to inventory and map over 75 million acres of boreal and tundra habitat in Alaska.
"Their model will work perfectly for the work
to be done in Canada's western boreal forest," Stewart said. "This is just
one more example of the Ducks Unlimited family working together for the benefit
of the
continent's waterfowl."
The second step involves finding out which wildlife species are using various wetland types. "And we're not just looking at waterfowl," he said. "Whooping cranes, trumpeter swans, loons and many other water birds are all important in this area."
The third step focuses on researching the effects of the numerous impacts on these key boreal wetland systems. The goal of the research is to find out whether productivity and biodiversity of wetlands in the area can be maintained in the face of ongoing resource activity. Stewart said research in the boreal forest has been concentrated on upland areas while wetland areas have been largely ignored.
Waterfowl
While the prairie pothole region steals the spotlight for waterfowl production, the western boreal forest of Canada and Alaska quietly supports more than 40 per cent of waterfowl inventoried in the traditionally surveyed areas on the continent. In the shadows of towering trees, waterfowl species of concern like scaup, American wigeon and northern pintail rely on the wetlands of the boreal forest to provide breeding habitat.
Stewart said that of the eight million birds counted in spring surveys in Alberta, at least 1.4 million reside in the boreal forest in any given year. And when there are droughts on the Prairies, almost half the birds move to the forest for the season. The species that use the forest also appear to experience better brood survival because there is less threat of predation and fewer disturbances by agriculture.
In the postbreeding season, canvasback, redhead, mallard and pintail from other habitats come to the boreal forest to molt.
The boreal forest is also important as a migration stop for shorebirds, the entire Western Arctic snow goose population, some white-fronted geese and Canada geese
Funding
There has been tremendous preliminary support for the WBFI from government and business. A commitment from private industry came from Syncrude Canada Ltd., an oil sands company based in Alberta.
"We have committed to funding for 1998 as part of a multiyear partnership," said Wayne McKee, manager of bitumen production development. The company has operated north of Fort McMurray, Alta., since 1977. There are 3,500 permanent employees and about 500 contract workers. Between $25 and $30 million of Syncrude's $1 billion operating budget is spent annually on research and development, primarily technology development and finding better ways to do reclamation work.
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| Productive wetland complexes are tucked among the dense trees of the boreal forest. These wetlands are important to species like scaup, northern pintail and American wigeon. |
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American Wigeon |
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Northern Pintail |
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Lesser Scaup |
"We try to collaborate on research and development as much as we can to leverage our funds," McKee said. "Ducks Unlimited has scientists and resources that nicely complement what we have in-house. DU also has a proven track record and getting involved in these studies is to our benefit.
The Office of International Programs of the Washington bases US Forest Service is also among initial funders.
"We want to participate because the U.S.is part of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and we are concerned with what happens in Canada and Mexico," said Jan Engert of the US Forest Service. "This is an opportunity to further research the boreal forest, of which there is very little left. We also have boreal forest in Alaska and some of the mapping, inventory and relationship studies that will go on between the forest and the wetlands will be good information for us."
The US Forest Service is the oldest and largest natural resources agency in the United States and it manages 154 national forests. The mandate of the Office of International Programs is to support and promote sustainable forest management in other parts of the world through cooperative research, technical assistance and training.
The British Columbia Ministry of Forests also provided funds to the WBFI. Ducks Unlimited's satellite mapping techniques will be used to inventory an area around Fort Nelson, B.C., near the Yukon border to find out what types of wetlands are present. The B.C. Ministry of Forests currently uses conventional methods such as aerial photography and soil sampling to map ecosystems.
"We want to investigate alternatives to our conventional methods that may be better and a lot more economical," said Craig DeLong, regional landscape ecologist with the ministry.
One of Canada's leading pulp companies, Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Inc. (AlPac), also agreed to support the WBFI with a research commitment. Ken Plourde, business group leader of forest resources, said the company has a history of supporting research initiatives.
"The simple reason we are involved with Ducks Unlimited is that we are into ecosystem management and biodiversity," he said. "We're also interested in water quality."
AlPac currently has a program to help farmers develop plans to manage their woodlots. A study will be conducted to determine if some of Ducks Unlimited's wildlife-friendly practices can be applied to the program. Other projects include research into the tar sands areas and the effects of watershed disturbances on wetlands.
AlPac employs 440 people at its mill near Boyle, Alta., about two hours north of Edmonton.
Research
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The left side of the image shows a typical mix of trees and wetlands
in the boreal forest near LaCrete, Alta. On the right side of the image,
the land has been cleared and the wetlands will most likely be drained
to accommodate agriculture. |
A team of researchers from the Universities of Alberta and Victoria will define what studies are necessary to determine the functions and productivity of wetlands in the boreal forest. Working with DU's Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research, researchers will determine whether the resource industry can use a sustainable management approach to maintain the productivity and biodiversity of wetlands and shallow lakes in the region.
