This Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund project is designed to benefit the Groundhog caribou herd in the Upper Adams River Valley and is led by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. The project targets forest roads within, adjacent or leading to critical high elevation caribou habitat.

Forest professionals assessed and prescribed treatments on suitable roads that were no longer needed. In 2019-20, a total of 41 km of road was assessed and this led to 14.1 km of treatments being prescribed and completed in 2020. The primary treatment was road rehabilitation using an excavator to decompact the road surface, redistribute woody debris & organic material, and restore natural drainage patterns. Rehabilitation treatments prepared the sites for reforestation (tree planting) in 2021. Support and participation of First Nations was integral to the success of this project. Local First Nations supported restoration at this site and the Adams Lake Indian Band had the capacity and resources to complete all road works and provide professional oversight.

Before:

Goat Creek Road prior to restoration.

After:

Goat Creek Road after restoration

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development for making the Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund possible.