Thu, 6 Dec 2018
Tags: Fisheries

HCTF Makes New Sturgeon Commitment

Sturgeon and 3 Fisherpeople

The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation has made a substantial new commitment to white sturgeon in BC, which will see the foundation provide an additional $250,000 over the next 5 years towards projects that contribute to the conservation of sturgeon and associated habitat.

Starting in 2008, the Province of British Columbia introduced new conservation surcharges on licences to fish for sturgeon on the middle and lower Fraser River.  The surcharge funds are directed to a dedicated account overseen by the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, to be reinvested in important work to sustain these sensitive populations.

The amount of revenue generated annually depends on the number of sturgeon licenses sold. Over the past 8 years, the average annual revenue from sturgeon surcharges was $250,000. In 2017/18, it was approximately $325,000.

In October 2018, the HCTF board decided to provide an additional $250,000 for sturgeon projects, over and above the annual amount generated through sturgeon angling surcharges. This means that HCTF will provide an additional $50,000 annually in new funding for sturgeon conservation projects for each of the next 5 years, starting in 2019.

“HCTF recognizes the unique value of sturgeon and the need to protect this irreplaceable species,” explains HCTF CEO Brian Springinotic. “We want to augment the already significant contributions of the sturgeon angling, guiding and scientific communities, who act as sturgeon advocates and ambassadors, citizen scientists, and, through license fees, financial supporters of conservation projects.”

Over the years, HCTF has funded a variety of sturgeon conservation projects in BC. Recent examples include long-term acoustic tracking of adult sturgeon and a collaborative project focused on the removal of ghost nets (read more).

Tue, 4 Dec 2018

Applications Now Being Accepted for Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund

Caribou

The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) is now accepting applications from the public for the Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund. This fund was created through a $2 million grant from the Province of British Columbia to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation to aid in caribou habitat restoration.

“Our provincial Caribou Recovery Program recognizes the need for a number of actions to help recover caribou populations, including habitat restoration,” says Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development Minister Doug Donaldson. “Earlier this year we were able to direct funding to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation for that purpose.”

Since the Fund was first announced in April 2018, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation has supported projects in the Kootenay-Boundary and Skeena regions designed to support caribou habitat. Approximately $1.5 million is available for projects in this funding round.

Human influence on the landscape – including forestry, mining, and roadbuilding – has altered caribou habitat. Projects pursued under the Fund will focus on restoring habitat through both functional and ecological approaches. Examples of functional restoration activities include planting trees, spreading coarse woody debris and installing fences to disrupt linear thoroughfares that advantage predators, whereas ecological restoration activities include encouraging native plants and trees that support the return of caribou habitat to its undisturbed state.

“Investing in habitat restoration is a key component of caribou recovery,” said Brian Springinotic, chief executive officer, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. “We are pleased to work with the Province to improve conservation outcomes for these vulnerable and iconic herds.”

Interested applicants are encouraged to visit the CHRF webpage to learn more about funding priorities. Applications will be accepted until January 11, 2019 and successful projects will be announced in spring of 2019.

Since its inception in 1981, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation has invested over $180 million in grant money to more than 2,800 conservation projects in B.C., with the goal to restore, maintain or enhance native fish and wildlife populations and habitats.

Thu, 29 Nov 2018

Coquihalla River Rehabilitation Project Update

Crew working to break up boulder on Coquihalla River

HCTF is delighted to share an update from one of our more explosive recent projects, the Coquihalla River Summer Steelhead Migration Rehabilitation Project.

In the spring of 2014, an unfortunate combination of erosion, shifting of boulders and the settling of a failed bridge foundation introduced a new obstacle for summer steelhead attempting to access the upper 20 km of the Coquihalla River. The location of Othello Falls, combined with seasonal water levels, have always made this stretch very difficult to pass, but the 2014 events made this barrier almost fully impassable. Loss of access to the upper river threatened the long-term viability of this unique steelhead population. In response, a dedicated group of biologists, engineers, conservationists, and fisheries enthusiasts came together to make a plan.

Northwest Hydraulic Consultants was contracted to oversee modifications to the barrier. In September 2017, the team rappelled down the bridge at Othello Falls, drilled holes in the most problematic boulder, and used low-impact explosives to break the blockage into smaller pieces. Over the winter, high water flows redistributed the rocks, creating a more accessible passage for steelhead.

While it is still too early to assess the full impact of the rehabilitation work, preliminary results are encouraging, according to Mike Willcox, project leader and Fish Biologist with Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development for the South Coast Natural Resource Region. His team conducted snorkel surveys both up- and down-stream of the barrier in late summer 2018 to determine the percentage of summer steelhead that successfully traversed the blockage. “Our observations indicate the works were at least partly successful in improving access at the barrier,” says Willcox. “As well, anglers were pleased with the fishery upstream of the barrier this season. We will continue to monitor fish movement each year past the barrier to determine whether any further works are required.”

The Coquihalla River supports one of only two natural, coastal summer-run steelhead stocks on the lower Fraser River. This stretch of river provides a rare opportunity for artificial fly-only summer steelhead fishing. From both a conservation and recreation viewpoint, individuals and organizations from across BC are very keen to support this important piece of habitat. HCTF is keen to follow the monitoring updates from the talented and creative folks on the ground and in the water at the Coquihalla River.

This project was supported by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, the Steelhead Society, Kingfisher Rod and Gun Club, the BC Conservation Foundation, BC Parks and the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

 

 

 

Wed, 21 Nov 2018

The Curious Case of the Haida Gwaii Sooty Grouse

Sooty grouse sporting a radio telemetry collar

Guest post by Berry Wijdeven, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations

On a clear day, you can see the British Columbia mainland from the shores of Haida Gwaii. The archipelago is only about 80 km from the mainland coast but weather and waves can make the distance insurmountable. The people of Haida Gwaii have learned to adapt to this relative isolation through patience and creativity, and so has the local flora and fauna.

The adaptations of local wildlife are wide-ranging and sometimes dramatic. Because Haida Gwaii rainforests tend to be dark, local birds, including goshawks, saw-whet owls and hairy woodpeckers have darker plumages compared to their mainland counterparts. It is hypothesized that this adaptation helps to conceal them. Goshawks have also adapted with decreased wingspans to manoeuvre more easily through the narrow flyways below the dense tree canopy. Haida Gwaii bears have developed the largest skulls of any North American Black Bear, likely due to a different suite of available prey items, while smaller critters such as marten and ermine sport skull shapes and sizes substantially different from those of their cousins on the mainland. Local marten, taking advantage of the large niche created by the lack of local mid-sized predators, have grown bigger than their mainland counterparts and may be capable of preying upon larger mammals, such as introduced deer.

The Haida Gwaii subspecies of saw-whet owl, known as the brooksi, is the only native species of owl on-island. This local subspecies has discovered that intertidal zones boast an abundance of food, such as beach hoppers and other invertebrates. Since the owls are not threatened by other night time predators such as the larger owl species found on the BC mainland, they can freely gorge themselves on these intertidal critters. Blue herons have changed their behaviour as well. In response, perhaps, to the vast numbers of island eagles, they have abandoned their colonies and now nest in single nests, well away – sometimes up to 10 km – from the ocean. In fact, while both blue herons and saw-whet owls are typically migratory birds, the local populations have adapted to live in Haida Gwaii year-round.

These unique relationships and interactions make studying wildlife on Haida Gwaii a fascinating undertaking. When the Haida Gwaii Sooty Grouse Research Project started seven years ago, the researchers weren’t looking for the unexpected; after all, grouse behaviour had been studied pretty comprehensively elsewhere. The research team was interested in finding out whether the local grouse population, an important prey item for goshawks, was in decline and if so, why. Was it the habitat changes brought on by forest harvesting? The influence of the large number of introduced deer? Other factors?

To find out what was going on, the team caught more than a hundred and seventy grouse and fitted them with radio collars. This enabled the researchers to track the birds’ movement patterns, determine seasonal habitat usage, and locate grouse nests. When, during the breeding season, a tagged female stopped moving for a few days, it was a good bet she had started nesting. Using radio telemetry, the nest was located and a motion detection camera deployed to hopefully record hatch success.

Radio telemetry is, at times, more of an art than a science. While the basics are pretty straightforward – you put a radio transmitter on a critter, release it and then use a receiver to lock onto its unique radio signal to help guide you to its current location – in the real world this guiding is less straight forward. The radio signals don’t travel in straight lines; they bounce off slopes, are re-directed by trees or rocks, are affected by high moisture content in the air and can be nearly silenced when the source signal is located in a depression. For rookie field crews, initial searches involve a lot of unnecessary bushwhacking, bog traversing and fighting off salal attacks, in search of an ever changing, at times seemingly illusive signal. Researchers quickly learn to “read the sign”, including accounting for topographical or vegetation impacts to the signal, checking directions frequently and constantly adjusting their path forward.

Telemetry

When you walk towards a radio signal, you judge your progress by how strongly the signal is received. When the signal gets stronger, the beep gets louder, signalling that you are getting closer. This aural assistance disappears when you get within 20-30 meters of the transmitter. At this point, the signal is as strong as it is going to get and it now becomes a matter of visually locating the grouse wearing the collar. Crews tread carefully at this stage, not just to prevent the grouse from moving off her nest, but also, literally, from not stepping on a grouse.

Sooty grouse belong to the family Tetraoninea which also includes Spruce grouse, Ruffed grouse, Sharp-tailed and Sage grouse as well as Ptarmigan and Prairie chickens. This family has a wide distribution ranging from Iceland and Greenland to Eurasia and North America. While they have adapted to a wide variety of ecosystems, one characteristic that has remained commonplace is their choice of nesting sites. Whether it’s the arctic tundra, coastal rainforest or inland plains: grouse typically nest in shallow depressions on the ground, often beneath cover, with a thin lining of plant material. Not the most secure of locations, but somehow it has been sufficiently successful to maintain the species.

In characteristically Haida Gwaii fashion, local Sooty grouse behave atypically. The research crew discovered that somehow the island grouse must not have gotten that ground-nesting memo. They first observed some grouse nests located on high stumps, which was unexpected and interesting. Soon thereafter, a grouse nest was detected 2.5 meters up in the air on a 45 degree leaning tree. That created some excitement amongst the crew, thinking they might have located the highest known grouse nest in North America.

That was only the beginning. By the next field season new nest champions emerged, nestled ever higher in the crooks of trees or on mossy platforms on tree branches. While exciting, trying to find these nests often proved problematic. Locating nests in dense understory was one thing, but looking up into a cluster of trees, hoping to spot a remarkably well camouflaged grouse took time, skill and a healthy dose of luck. Mossy platforms, more often associated with Marbled Murrelet nests, turned out to be popular sites for the non-conformist tree dwelling grouse. Sometimes, after extensive circling, using binoculars and zoom lenses, looking for the right angle to get a glimpse, it would be the tail feathers, sticking up or sticking out which would give the grouse away. Or, surprisingly perhaps, often it was the bird’s eye in the sky, staring intently at the interlopers below.

Recording grouse data

By the end of the study, some 15 grouse tree nests had been located with the highest one hidden away 18 meters up high. Straight up. And they say grouse aren’t good flyers! Mind you, not all Haida Gwaii grouse nested in trees, in fact they nested just about anywhere: on stumps, on logs, on top of root wads, on a cliff, inside hollow trees, inside waste wood piles in a variety of tree species, and on the ground. Every nest search created excitement. The crew would never know what nest location choice that particular grouse had made, or why. Was it to evade predators? Avoid the wet understory? Hopefully, the upcoming data analysis will provide answers. Meanwhile, the research team will remember this particular study fondly. In spite of the aches and pains, the ineffectiveness of their rain gear for the Haida Gwaii weather, the miles and miles of searching and bushwhacking, they gained a new respect for the adaptiveness of the Sooty grouse.

For more information on this project contact:

Frank Doyle at wildlifedynamics@gmail.com or

Louise Waterhouse at Louise.Waterhouse@gov.bc.ca

The Haida Gwaii Sooty Grouse Project was spearheaded by Frank Doyle of Wildlife Dynamics Consulting and Louise Waterhouse, Coast Area Research, Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. Other team members included Melissa Todd, Coast Area Research, FLNRORD and Ross Vennesland, Parks Canada. Field technicians included Gerry Morigeau, Kiku Dhanwant, James MacKinnon and Miranda Barnhardt. Special thanks to management and staff at the Haida Gwaii District, FLNRORD without whose enthusiastic participation and support this project would not have succeeded.  Thanks also to Mike Schroeder. Funding of the project courtesy of Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, FLNRORD, Parks Canada, Husby Forest Products and the Upland Bird Society.

Fri, 16 Nov 2018

HCTF Seeking Web Design Proposals

Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation has issued a Request for Proposals for Website Design. We are seeking proposals from qualified proponents with experience designing and developing websites for charities with an environmental mandate. To request a copy of the RFP, please email Heather Forbes.

Proposals are due December 12, 2018.

Mon, 12 Nov 2018

Congratulations BC Premier’s Award Winner Jim Macaulay

Jim Macaulay

Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation is delighted that James (Jim) Macaulay has been recognized with the BC Premier’s Award for his outstanding legacy of environmental prosecution. His work, particularly his embrace of creative sentencing, has fundamentally changed BC’s approach to environmental stewardship.

HCTF CEO Brian Springinotic was one of Jim’s nominees for the award. Here’s part of what Brian wrote:

“It is a great honour to write in support of the nomination of James MacAulay for the Legacy and BC Public Service Hall of Excellence. Jim has made an exceptional and enduring contribution to the Province of British Columbia through his dedication to establishing creative sentencing as a catalyst for conservation in BC.

As the senior Environmental Crown Prosecutor for BC, Jim has worked tirelessly  over the past 20 years to educate fellow prosecutors and the province’s judiciary about the benefits of creative sentencing. Creative sentencing goes beyond traditional fines and penalties to require guilty parties to make payments to organizations such as the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) so they can be used to benefit the ecosystems impacted. Creative sentencing helps to transform environmental tragedy into support for community-based projects and programs that benefit all British Columbians. Our experience is that the citizens of BC respond very positively to the “symmetry” created by creative sentencing: not only is justice done, it is seen to be done.

As but a single example, Jim’s work on the 2007 Burnaby oil spill case resulted in a $447,000 creative sentencing award to HCTF, over and above the estimated $15M paid to remediate the affected area. The granting program created from this award was a tremendous catalyst for community conservation projects at the site of impact. The $447,000 creative sentencing award was leveraged into over $2M for the restoration of critical habitats along the north shore of Burrard Inlet. I am certain that Jim’s unwavering endorsement of creative sentencing in BC has been instrumental in many of the hundreds of court awards we’ve received and the millions of dollars invested in conservation as a result of creative sentencing decisions made by BC’s judiciary.”

We encourage you to view this video detailing Jim’s contributions to environmental conservation in BC.