FINAL REPORT EAST KOOTENAY TRENCH AGRICULTURE WILDLIFE COMMITTEE January, 1998 East Kootenay Trench Agriculture Wildlife Committee Final Report FINAL REPORT OF THE EAST KOOTENAY AGRICULTURE/WILDLIFE COMMITTEE Prepared on behalf of the Committee by: Don Gayton Ministry of Forests Nelson Maurice Hansen Rocky Mountain Natural Resources Society Kimberley January, 1998 East Kootenay Trench Agriculture Wildlife Committee Final Report ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A long-term, multifaceted and successful Project such as this requires the help and goodwill of a host of individuals. Besides offering heartfelt thanks to those legions of ranchers, hunters, environmentalists, government employees, contractors and timber company personnel who contributed their labor over the seven years of this project, the Committee would like to specifically thank the following individuals: · Ex-Committee Chair John Murray, whose enthusiasm and drive helped get the Project started. A serious accident prevented John from continuing his work with the Committee, but his contributions have been invaluable; · Verdun Casselman. Although is no longer with us, Verd’s extensive knowledge of local history and broad perspective were invaluable to the Committee; · The Resource User Group, consisting of April Beckley, Evelyn Fahselt, Dave White, Ron Skiber, Andy McDonald, Brodie Swann, Maurice Hansen and Ray Wilson, who wrestled with the thorny issues of private land damage mitigation and the Newgate increase; · Al Eimer of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Nelson, who provided the Committee with excellent financial guidance; · Tim Ross and Brian Wikeem, who conceived and executed the massive Vegetation Monitoring Project; · Don Gayton and Maurice Hansen, both veterans of the Committee, who undertook the arduous task of writing this Report. East Kootenay Trench Agriculture Wildlife Committee Final Report Page 1. GEOGRAPHICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC SETTING 1 2. WILDLIFE AND RANCHING: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE 5 3. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT PRIOR TO 1990 10 4. MANDATE AND FORMATION OF COMMITTEE 16 5. DATA COLLECTION PROJECTS 21 6. VEGETATION MONITORING PROJECT 22 7. WILDLIFE DATA COLLECTION PROJECTS 39 8. PRIVATE LAND DAMAGE MITIGATION PROJECT 44 9. NEWGATE INCREASE PROJECT 49 10. BUCK LAKE INTERCEPT RANGE PROJECT 60 11. PASTURE ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS 62 12. PRELIMINARY FOREST INGROWTH ANALYSIS 64 13. RESTORATION HARVESTING PROJECTS 73 14. PUBLIC CONSULTATION 76 15. BRIDGE CREEK (OREGON) FACT-FINDING TOUR 77 16. PARALLEL INITIATIVES 78 17. DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS 81 18. ANALYSIS OF COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS 90 BIBLIOGRAPHY 92 East Kootenay Trench Agriculture Wildlife Committee Final Report APPENDIX East Kootenay Trench Agriculture Wildlife Committee Final Report 1. GEOGRAPHICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC SETTING The Rocky Mountain Trench is a narrow, 5 to 25 kilometre wide glaciated valley stretching from the Yukon to Montana. In British Columbia, the East Kootenay sub region encompasses that part of the Trench from the Big Bend of the Columbia River south to the Montana border. The Trench separates two major mountain ranges, the Rockies to the east and the Purcell Mountains to the west. The area of concern to the EKTAWC is from approximately Radium in the north to Newgate at the US border (see map). The southern two-thirds of the area is drained by the Kootenay River. The lower part of the Kootenay is now a reservoir since the imposition of the Libby Dam in Montana in the 1970's. The upper third of the area is drained by the Columbia river. The Trench was heavily influenced by the most recent (Fraser) glaciation, when the main valley and side drainages were buried under 1000 meters of ice. The complex topography of the Trench can be interpreted through the multiple advances and retreats of the ice sheet, as well as the erosion, ponding, scouring and outwashing that occurred as the huge volume of ice melted. Soils on the glacial flood plains and upland terraces were developed on strongly calcareous gravelly river deposits that are overlain by deposits of silty and fine sandy materials. Climate in the Trench is considered Continental, although winter minimum temperatures are not as cold as in the prairies east of the Rockies. Precipitation at the Cranbrook airport, roughly in the center of the area, is 366mm (14 1/2") per year. Annual precipitation has two peaks, one in November- January as snow, and a second one in May-June as rain. Mean maximum temperature for August is 32.2o C and mean minimum for January is -26.3o C. Frost-free season is approximately 110 days, and there is an average of 2206 sunshine hours per year. "The Trench" has been defined bioregionally as the main valley and the side valleys that lie below 1525 meters, or 4500 feet. The area is largely forested, with the bottom of the valley and the lower south to Southwest-facing slopes covered with a mosaic of open forest and grassland. Much of the bottom of the valley is a patchwork of communities, farms and rural residences that abut Crown land. 1 East Kootenay Trench Agriculture Wildlife Committee Final Report The vegetation within the Trench is broken into three main Biogeoclimatic subzones/variants1: Subzone/variant Abbrev. Leading Tree species Elevation Range Dry Cool Montane MSdk Engelmann spruce, 1200-1650m south aspect Spruce Subalpine fir 1100-1550m north aspect Kootenay Dry Mild IDFdm2 Douglas-fir 800-1200m south aspect Interior Douglas-fir 800-1100m north aspect Variant Kootenay Dry Hot PPdh2 Ponderosa pine, 700-950m south aspect Ponderosa Pine Variant Douglas-fir The agriculture/wildlife conflict is associated with the open forests, grasslands and private cropland within the IDFdm2 and PPdh2. The region supports the greatest diversity of wild ungulates (seven species) and large carnivores in North America. The vast majority of the province's elk and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep live in the East Kootenays. The four main overlap range areas, used by wildlife in winter/spring, and by livestock in summer and fall, are Newgate, Pickering Hills, Skookumchuk Prairie and Premier Ridge. Economy The area contains approximately 37,000 people. The economy is relatively diversified, between forestry, mining, agriculture, tourism, government, service industries and light industrial. Livestock Sector There are approximately 150 ranches in the Trench that utilize Crown range (almost exclusively cow-calf operations) with some 8,500 head. Total Crown land grazing amounts to some 47,000 AUMs. Gross livestock production receipts on these ranches is in the order of 5 to 6 million dollars annually, the bulk of which is spent locally. This figure does not account for the entire livestock sector, since it is estimated that an additional 4,000 head are present in the Trench that do not access Crown range. Wildlife Sector The average 1991/95 East Kootenay elk and deer hunter population was approximately 20,000 individuals, of which two thirds were local residents, and the remaining third from outside the area. This has been calculated to generate economic activity of nearly 8 million dollars per year (MOELP, 1996). In addition, approximately 4 million dollars of activity is estimated to be generated by wildlife viewing activities, primarily with moose, elk and deer (Reid, 1986). 1It is also referred to as the "East Kootenay Trench" in the Ecosection classification 2 East Kootenay Trench Agriculture Wildlife Committee Final Report Timber Sector Total employment income for forestry in the East Kootenays is approximately 147 million dollars annually (CORE, 1994). The area of concern to this analysis however--the bottom and side valleys of the Trench--represents about twenty percent of the Crown forested land, therefore contributing roughly 30 million to total employment income. Governmental Structures Forest Service jurisdiction over the Trench area is within the Nelson Forest Region and is divided into two Districts: Invermere and Cranbrook, with District offices in each community. Range staff are present in the two District offices as well as the Regional office. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks services the Trench from their offices in Cranbrook, with a Regional office in Nelson. Fish and Wildlife staff are present in both offices. Fish and Wildlife staff have further subdivided the Trench into seven Wildlife Management Units2. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food also maintains an office in Cranbrook, with a Regional office in Kelowna. The Regional District of East Kootenay office is located in Cranbrook. Resource User and other Non-Governmental Organizations The livestock sector is represented in the Trench by the Kootenay Livestock Association, The Ta Ta Creek Farmers Institute, The Waldo Stockbreeders Association and the Windermere Farmers Institute. The wildlife sector is represented by the East Kootenay Wildlife Association, affiliated with the British Columbia Wildlife Federation, and the independent East Kootenay Hunters Association. The Southern BC Guide Outfitters Association are affiliated with the B.C. Guide Outfitters Association. The environmental sector is represented by the East Kootenay Environmental Society, which maintains an office in Kimberley, and the Rocky Mountain Naturalists. The Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resources Society is a broad-based organization that has representation from most of the above sectors. First Nations interests are represented by the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council. Other non-governmental organizations of interest are the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Office in Nelson, Forest Renewal B.C., which has a branch office in Cranbrook, and the newly-formed Columbia Basin Trust, based in Nakusp. 2M.U.'s 402, 403, 420, 421, 422, 425, and 426. 3 East Kootenay Trench Agriculture Wildlife Committee Final Report 2. WILDLIFE AND RANCHING: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE Evolution of the Trench Landscape Grass, shrubs and forbs are the primary inputs for both the livestock and wildlife industries in the Trench. This range resource has been part of the natural history of the area since after the last Ice Age. This was confirmed by finding bones of the bison, a quintessential grazing animal, in an ancient aboriginal campsite near Fort Steele.