A Sense of Place Issues, Attitudes and Resources in the Yellowstone to Yukon Ecoregion Acknowledgements
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AA SENSESENSE OFOF PLPLAACECE Issues, Attitudes And Resources In The Yellowstone To Yukon Ecoregion Louisa Willcox — Project Director Bart Robinson — Project Coordinator Ann Harvey — Editor The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) is a bi- national network of over 170 conservation organizations and in- dividuals that seeks to conserve the beauty, the health and the natural diversity of the Rocky Mountains from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in the south to the Yukon’s Mackenzie Mountains in the north. Drawing from the best available science, Y2Y’s mission is to restore and maintain landscape and habitat connectivity along 3200 kilometres (1990 miles) of mountains by establishing a system of core protected wildlife reserves that are linked by wildlife habitat and movement corridors. Existing na- tional, state and provincial parks and wilderness areas will anchor the system, while the creation of new protected areas will provide the additional cores and corridors needed to complete it. Copies of this document may be ordered from: Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative 710 –9th Street, Studio B, Canmore, Alberta T1W 2V7 Canada (403) 609-2666, (403) 609-2667 fax E-mail: [email protected] First Printing April, 1998 Contents A Sense of Place Issues, Attitudes And Resources In The Yellowstone To Yukon Ecoregion Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. v Preface .................................................................................................................................................. vii Map of the Yellowstone to Yukon ........................................................................................................ ix INTRODUCTION The Wild Heart of North America: A New Perspective .......................................................................... 1 Science and Conservation in the Yellowstone to Yukon........................................................................... 5 The Land Conservation Process: A Brief Review .................................................................................... 7 YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON: A PHYSICAL OVERVIEW The Yellowstone to Yukon Landscape ..................................................................................................... 9 Figure 1. Physiography ...................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 2. Representative Geological Highlights .................................................................................... 12 Figure 3. Simplified geological cross-sections in Y2Y ............................................................................ 13 Photographs of representative landscapes of the Yellowstone to Yukon ecoregion. ..................................... 15 The Vegetation of Yellowstone to Yukon: A Preliminary Outline .......................................................... 19 Table 1. Preliminary Vegetation Units of the Yellowstone to Yukon Area ............................................... 20 Figure 1. Vegetation units in Yellowstone to Yukon. .............................................................................23 Land Cover Structure of Yellowstone to Yukon ..................................................................................... 27 Table 1. Area and proportion of cover types in the Yellowstone to Yukon ............................................... 28 Y2Y Ground Cover Structure ............................................................................................................ 29 HUMAN INFLUENCES AND TRENDS Sacred Geography: First Nations of the Yellowstone to Yukon .............................................................. 31 First Nations / Native American Territories in the Yellowstone to Yukon ............................................... 33 Economic Trends in the Yellowstone to Yukon Region: A Synopsis ...................................................... 51 Figure 1. New personal income by category, U.S. counties of Y2Y, 1970 to 1995.................................. 52 Figure 2. Changes in employment by industry, 1986 and 1991 (latest figures), combined census divisions for the Alberta portion of the Yellowstone to Yukon region. ...................... 53 Yellowstone to Yukon Economic Sub-Regions ...................................................................................... 54 Figure 3. Changes in employment by industry, 1986 and 1991 (latest figures), combined census divisions for the British Columbia portion of the Yellowstone to Yukon region. ....... 55 Human Threats in the Yellowstone to Yukon........................................................................................ 57 Cumulative Effects of Human Activity in the Yellowstone to Yukon ..................................................... 61 CONSERVATION, SPECIES AND NATURAL PROCESSES Large Carnivore Conservation .............................................................................................................. 65 Bird Conservation in the Yellowstone to Yukon .................................................................................... 71 Selected Fishes of Yellowstone to Yukon: Distribution and Status ......................................................... 77 Figure 1. Distribution and status of chinook salmon in Y2Y. ............................................................... 81 Figure 2. Distribution and status of bull trout in Y2Y......................................................................... 83 Figure 3. Distribution and status of westslope cutthroat trout in Y2Y ................................................... 85 Figure 4. Distribution and status of Arctic grayling in Y2Y.................................................................. 87 Distribution and Status of Brook Trout in Y2Y .................................................................................. 89 Aquatic Issues in the Yellowstone to Yukon........................................................................................... 93 Fire in the Yellowstone to Yukon ........................................................................................................... 97 Table 1. The role of fire in ecosystems. ................................................................................................ 97 Table 2. Mean historic fire intervals (years) for various forest types. ...................................................... 98 Table 3. Historic fire cycles in coniferous forests (various forest types) in the central Canadian Cordillera. .............................................................................................98 Table 4. Percentage of forested areas burned by wildfires 1910–1949 and 1950–1996......................... 99 APPROACHES TO CONSERVATION Defining Grizzly Bear Habitat in the Yellowstone to Yukon ............................................................... 103 Figure 1. Grizzly bear habitat suitability for the Selkirks and Cabinet-Yaak. ..................................... 104 Figure 2. Grizzly bear habitat suitability for the Selkirks and Cabinet-Yaak scaled to the average life range of a female................................................................................... 104 Figure 3. Potential grizzly bear habitat in Yellowstone to Yukon. ....................................................... 105 Figure 4. Core habitat in the Selkirks and Cabinet-Yaak. ................................................................. 108 Figure 5. Core habitat in the Selkirks and Cabinet-Yaak with a doubled human population. .............. 108 Corridors: Key to Wildlife from Yellowstone to Yukon ....................................................................... 113 Potential Main Wildlife Corridors ................................................................................................... 115 Potential Regional Wildlife Corridors............................................................................................... 117 Age and Species Composition of Forests, Grizzly and Other Species Densities, Wilderness Watersheds, and Threats to Yellowstone to Yukon in British Columbia ............................................................. 123 Figure 1. Age class groups of British Columbia’s forests. Dark blue is forest over 250 years old. .......... 125 Figure 2. Leading tree species groups in British Columbia. ............................................................. 127 Figure 3a. Undeveloped watersheds over 5000 ha in the Columbia/Kootenay watersheds of British Columbia (numbers refer to BCMOF 1992). ............... 129 Figure 3b. Undeveloped watersheds over 5000 ha in the Peace/Fraser/Thompson watersheds of British Columbia (numbers refer to BCMOF 1992). .......... 130 Figure 3c. Undeveloped watersheds over 5000 ha in the Ft. Nelson/Muskwa watersheds of British Columbia (numbers refer to BCMOF 1992). ................ 131 Figure 3d. Undeveloped watersheds over 5000 ha in the Liard/Dease/Nass watersheds of British Columbia (numbers refer to BCMOF 1992). ................... 132 Figure 4. Current habitat value for grizzly bear (1995). ................................................................ 133 Figure 5. Historic habitat value for grizzly bear (1793). ................................................................ 133 CONCLUSIONS A Summary of Issues Facing the Yellowstone to Yukon ......................................................................