MOUNT ROBSON PROVINCIAL PARK Ecosystem Management Plan
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MOUNT ROBSON PROVINCIAL PARK Ecosystem Management Plan Occasional Paper No. 6 Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks Parks Division MOUNT ROBSON PROVINCIAL PARK ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT PLAN OCCASIONAL PAPER NO. 6 MARCH 2001 Prepared for BC Parks, Prince George District by B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd.1 Keystone Wildlife Research2 Laing and McCulloch Forest Management Services3 Oikos Ecological Services Ltd.4 Phero Tech Inc.5 Hugh Hamilton Ltd.6 1 North Vancouver, BC 2 White Rock, BC 3 Smithers, BC 4 Smithers, BC 5 Ministry of Delta, BC Environment, 6 Vancouver, BC Lands and Parks Parks Division Copyright © 2001 Province of British Columbia All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Published by BC Parks, Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Victoria, BC. Printed in Canada. Cover photo by Gail Ross. Occasional Paper Series edited by Mona Holley, BC Parks. Material and opinions contained herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent in whole or part those of the Government of British Columbia or any agency thereof. The use of trade, firm or corporation names is for the information of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval by the Government of British Columbia of any product or service to the exclusion of any others that may also be suitable. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Mount Robson Provincial Park ecosystem management plan (Occasional paper ; no. 6) Includes bibliographical references: p. ISBN 0-7726-4518-3 1. Provincial parks and reserves - British Columbia - Management. 2. Ecosystem management - British Columbia - Mount Robson Park. 3. Biological diversity conservation - British Columbia - Mount Robson Park. 4. Mount Robson Park (B.C.) I. BC Parks. Prince George District. II. B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd. III. Series: Occasional paper (BC Parks) ; no. 6. FC3815.M68M68 2001 333.78’3’0971182 C2001-960089-5 F1089.M68M68 2001 Acknowledgments Oikos Ecological Services Ltd. led this project, in collaboration with B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd., Keystone Wildlife Research, and Phero Tech Inc. Laing and McCulloch Forest Management Services carried out all of the GIS analysis and map production. The team would like to thank Gail Ross (BC Parks) who coordinated the project, and Wayne Van Velzen (BC Parks, Mount Robson Provincial Park) who provided valuable field assistance and background documents. The following people reviewed the content of the document: Wes Bradford, Wildlife Specialist, Jasper National Park, Jasper, Alberta Mike Brady, Forest Ecosystem Specialist, BC Environment, McBride, BC Rick Heathman, District Manager, BC Parks, Prince George, BC Robert Hodgkinson, Forest Entomologist, B.C. Forest Service, Prince George, BC Kent Jingfors, Wildlife Biologist, BC Parks Kerry Joy, Vegetation Ecologist, BC Parks Gail Ross, Resource Officer, BC Parks, Prince George, BC Wayne Van Velzen, Area Supervisor, Mount Robson Provincial Park, McBride, BC Mike Wesbrook, Ecosystem Specialist, Jasper National Park, Jasper, AB Paul Wood, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON i MOUNT ROBSON PROVINCIAL PARK Abstract The Mount Robson Provincial Park Master Plan (1992) identified the need for the development of vegetation and wildlife management plans. The general ecosystem management goal for Mount Robson Provincial Park was “to provide an area for the conservation of biological diversity of natural forested and non-forested ecosystems, and, as much as possible, to permit their natural ecological processes to occur “unchecked”. However, the constraints of critical and important wildlife habitats, habitats of endangered/threatened plants, animals and vegetation communities, fire and beetle epidemics, past management actions, present developments, adjacency issues, and public safety concerns all needed to be addressed within the context of an Ecosystem Management Plan. To address all these concerns, the provincial park was zoned into four management zones, and objectives and actions were developed for biodiversity conservation, forest fire, forest health and wildlife. Since the completion of the Ecosystem Management Plan in 1996, the following tasks have been completed: • installation of two fire weather stations near Park Headquarters and in the Upper Fraser watershed (1997) • allowing the Brule fire (205 ha) to burn in 1996 • winter habitat assessment for woodland caribou (1998) • allowing the Moose fire (2500 ha) to burn in 1998 • installation of Sware-flex wildlife reflectors • completion of a preliminary rare and endangered vascular plant species inventory in 1999 • aerial mountain pine beetle mapping and ground surveys in 1999 • fire management plan in 2000 • Moose River prescribed burn plan in 2000 The calculations in this paper are based on the area of Mount Robson Provincial Park as of 1996 and do not reflect the addition of the 6038-ha area in the Swiftcurrent drainage to the provincial park in 1999. However, many of the maps have been modified to include the Swiftcurrent addition. In addition, this occasional paper has been edited to reflect BC Parks current policy direction where applicable. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgments...................................................................i Abstract..................................................................................ii Part 1 Background and Management Issues..........................1 1.0 Introduction .....................................................................1 1.1 Mount Robson Provincial Park .................................................... 1 1.2 Terms of Reference........................................................................ 4 1.3 Material and Methods .................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Resource Material ........................................................................5 1.3.2 GIS Integration and Assessment of Vegetation Resources ..............6 1.3.3 Development of Forest Fire Hazard Ratings ..................................6 1.3.4 Development of Mountain Pine Beetle Hazard Ratings ...................9 1.3.5 Development of Spruce Beetle Hazard Ratings ............................ 11 1.3.6 Assessment of Wildlife in the Park ..............................................12 1.3.7 Ecological Integration of Management Components .....................13 2.0 Ecological Overview......................................................14 2.1 Physiography and Landforms ...................................................... 14 2.2 Climate ......................................................................................... 14 2.3 General Description of the Vegetation ....................................... 15 2.4 History of Development Within the Park ................................... 17 3.0 Vegetation Diversity.......................................................19 3.1 Forested Ecosystems ................................................................... 25 3.1.1 Dry Forests ...............................................................................25 3.1.2 Mesic Forests ............................................................................26 3.1.3 Moist Forests ............................................................................27 3.1.4 Floodplain Forests .....................................................................28 3.2 Non-forested Ecosystems............................................................ 28 3.2.1 Wetlands....................................................................................28 3.2.2 Avalanche Chutes .......................................................................28 3.2.3 Alpine and Subalpine Non-forested Ecosystems ..........................29 3.2.4 Other Non-forested Ecosystems .................................................30 3.3 Overview of Disturbance and Plant Succession Processes ....................................................................30 3.4 Forest Fire...................................................................32 3.4.1 Forest Succession and Fire Suppression.....................................32 3.4.2 Recent Fire History ....................................................................34 3.4.3 Present Forest Fire Hazard .........................................................35 3.4.4 The Estimated Fire Cycle ...........................................................36 3.5 Forest Health ............................................................................... 37 3.5.1 Mountain Pine Beetle ..................................................................37 3.5.1.1 Population Dynamics ....................................................................................38 3.5.1.2 Potential Impacts ..........................................................................................38 3.5.1.3 Historical Infestation Patterns .......................................................................39 3.5.1.4 Mountain Pine Beetle Hazard Map ...............................................................39 3.5.2 Spruce Beetle ........................................................................ 41 3.5.2.1 Population Dynamics ....................................................................................42 3.5.2.2 Potential Spruce Beetle Impacts....................................................................42 3.5.2.3 Spruce Beetle