Northwest Species at Risk Committee
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OPEN HOUSE PRESENTATIONS JANUARY 25, 2018 ZAMA CITY ~ RAINBOW LAKE LA CRETE ~ HIGH LEVEL MANNING ~ EUREKA RIVER PADDLE PRAIRIE Need clarification Presenters: please ask! Lisa Wardley, Chair NWSAR & Deputy Reeve Byron Peters, Deputy CAO, Mackenzie County and Lead We want us all to Admin NWSAR Committee leave tonight informed! Plus input from other NWSAR Committee members! Introductions of other NWSAR members in attendance… Introduction to NWSAR Committee The NWSAR Committee: The Six NW Municipalities ~ Mackenzie County, County of Northern Lights, County of Clear Hills and the Towns of High Level, Rainbow Lake and Manning. Organized in the Fall of 2016, forged out of necessity when the Province quietly suggested preserving 1.8 million hectares of land in our region in an effort to protect the Woodland Caribou – which are listed within the Species at Risk legislation along with over 540 other animals, plants, birds … similar to Grizzly Bear, Wood Bison, Whooping Crane and the newly added Barn Swallow. Mission: to ensure that the local voices and perspective are heard by the higher level of governments and put forward locally endorsed recommendations for Caribou Population Recovery that aren’t focused on additional land protection. Introduction to NWSAR Region NWSAR Region: Population: 30,000 (approx.) Area: 165,000 square kilometers (approx.) (including WBNP), which is a larger land base than 3 Atlantic Provinces (NB, NS and PEI) Five First Nations and one Metis settlement Industries ~ our area is heavily resourced based Energy, Forestry Agriculture and all the related support services Five Woodland Caribou herds; Covering 39% of the Region Chinchaga, Bistcho, Yates, Caribou Mountains and a portion of the Red Earth herd. Alberta Caribou 16 Populations of Caribou in Alberta: Listed as ‘Threatened’ both Provincially and Federally. The NWSAR region has 5 of the 16 herds within the landbase Four of our herds are cross-jurisdictional (BC, NT, Federally or a combination) The Banff herd was extirpated in 2009. GPS and Telemetry are used to locate and count Caribou and populations are estimates. Alberta Population numbers are estimated at 2608-2849 total animals. Federal – SARA Quick Facts 2012 the Federal Government released their Woodland Caribou Recovery Strategy Objective: “ The recovery goal for boreal caribou is to achieve self-sustaining local populations in all boreal caribou ranges throughout their current distribution in Canada, to the extent possible.” Federal – SARA Quick Facts In the Federal Strategy they list primary indicator of success is the disturbance threshold for each range being greater than 65% undisturbed habitat. We feel that the primary indicator of success is the population moving in an upward direction! Introduction to NWSAR Current ‘Parks’ Largest National Park – Wood Buffalo National Park Largest Provincial Park – Caribou Wildland Park All the parks, protected and notated areas in our region add up to…. …over 52,000 square Km’s or about 31% of the NWSAR Land Mass! The 31% doesn’t include the proposed 1.8 now down to 1.6 million hectares of P8, F20 or F10 F23 was originally proposed but was removed after initial conversations between Province and LRRCN Introduction to NWSAR Industries CURRENT MORATORIUM within ALL Caribou Ranges Forestry and Oil & Gas are our two largest regional Industries… Over 38% of our forestry sector is active within our caribou ranges… with an allowable cut at over 5.5 million m3, which equates to $1 billion of annual revenue and 650 full-time equivalent jobs. Our NWSAR FMA holders are West Fraser, Tolko, Norboard, La Crete Saw Mills and DMI RED – shows current FMA (Forest Management Areas in Alberta) GREEN – shows potential areas for Forestry expansion of FMA’s (currently unallocated Forest Management units, such as P8, F10, F20, F23) Introduction to NWSAR Industries CURRENT MORATORIUM within ALL Caribou Ranges Forestry and Oil & Gas are our two largest regional Industries… There is approximately $2.9 billion dollars of ‘established today’ proven oil & gas reserves, available for extraction with the NWSAR Caribou ranges… with future development estimated at more than $90 billion. These figures do not include: geothermal, gravel or other energy or mineral opportunities. Northern Pipeline Infrastructure Snapshot… Operating Pipelines: Orange is Gas Purple is Oil Grey is Condensate Green is Vapor Pressure/Products Snapshot of Region: Where assessment and development is concentrated along with overlay of Caribou Ranges. *Lease Moratorium is active in within all range boundaries NWSAR Impact to Municipalities Moratoriums on new land sales and leases, as well as restrictions on permits have been in place in some areas within the region since 2012. The linear table is based on the current infrastructure within the full caribou ranges. While data collection has begun in this area there is not enough yet to justify a exhaustive opinion to the full potential impacts to local municipalities and communities. (p.79 of the NWSAR report) Introduction to NWSAR Industries CURRENT MORATORIUM within ALL Caribou Ranges Our other industries such as Agriculture has a symbiotic relationship with our two major industries as a majority of our farm families either currently or has in the past supplemented with off-farm income… as well as support services supply whole region. Our support and soft services heavily rely on all our Industries in order to thrive. Future opportunities that have yet to be realized: . such as geo-thermal, lithium, gravel, farmland expansion and other minerals or land based economic drivers need to be considered for the health and future of our Region. We require all parts and pieces within the region to be vibrant and successful to ensure future prosperity for all. Geo-Thermal – A Possibility cut off…. Locations 1 & 2 have excellent thermal potential and record the highest temperatures at the shallowest well depth in the Province and currently contain 32 & 219 abandoned wells… but are relatively far away from electrical demand and transmission. So they targeting initial project on site #4. G7G Rail – A Possibility pushed south…. The G7G Railway is gaining steam… • additional protected areas in the North… • decreased economic activity… • Increased Northern uncertainty… Will the AB Trans Highway Corridor option prevail and the North loses out on much needed infrastructure and a large economic driver! NWSAR What we have done so far… Talked to the ‘locals’ – ensuring we are heard! Hundreds of hours of meetings, conversations, events and open houses with local stakeholders, businesses and associations, whether as a full committee or more of a share the workload approach! Discussions and input from local trappers and outfitters and their respective associations Travelled to and met locally with our industries and large stakeholders (Forestry and Oil and Gas) as well as their respective Associations, have created partnerships and information sharing with this group who are also active in much of the industry led research Utilized local, municipal, association and stakeholder resources for data gathering NWSAR What we have done so far… Provincial & Federal and Neighboring Jurisdictions… To date, there has been limited engagement from both the Federal and Provincial levels of governments in our region, and looks like our region will have one public chance in High Level on March 6 to comment on the recent released Provincial Draft plan. Met with parties in Ottawa on two occasions and with Provincial Ministers and staff multiple times over the past year and a half… taking what we have learned and local input forward and we were optimistic that they were listening. Met with NWT government representatives in January 2017 Limited involvement in North-Eastern BC Round table discussions June, 2017 our draft Recommendations for Caribou Population Recovery was submitted to the both government levels for comment Submitted the final Report at the end of September 2017. Other than a few token check-box meetings in November 2017 with the Minister and Staff there was no additional conversational opportunities to discuss our Recommendations with the Province. NWSAR What have we done so far… Other meetings and advancements: Met multiple ENGO’s and CPAWS and the AWA with their presentation was included in our last round of open houses AAMDC (Alberta Rural Municipality Assoc.) we took forward resolutions starting in the fall of 2016, then in the Spring of 2017 and Fall of 2017… which were passed with high majorities, regarding Species At Risk, Land Use Planning, Inter-jurisdicational Collaboration etc AUMA (Alberta Urban Municipality Assoc.) we took forward and were successful for similar Species at Risk resolutions within the Urban association Alberta Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution at their Provincial Conference regarding the Socio-economic impact of SAR Invited and were included in a Municipal Leadership panel as a guest speaker during the Alberta Forest Products Association Convention in fall of 2017 talking about NWSAR and our region Multiple news releases, interviews, articles, collaboration with Saskatchewan Municipal Association and groups Currently completing a video series showcasing the ‘people’ of the affected Caribou Ranges. Mackenzie Region predator-control program in place since mid-2016 (200+) NWSAR Report: Challenge #1 Challenge: Land Management and regulatory policy Recommendation: To integrate and accelerate discussions for