WILDLIFE COMPENSATION: A POLICY ANALYSIS Robert Keith MacDonald B.A, University of Victoria, 1989 ESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL IWLFILLMENT OF THE REQUlREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT in the School of Rescurce and Environmental Management Report No. 223 0 Robert Keith ~MacDonald1998 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY April 1998 Al rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services sewices bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue WdIington OttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada Your Me Votre nifemme Our I% Notre rëIBlence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, ban, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thése sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in tbis thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT There are no regdatory requirements in Canada which explicitly state the need, or level, of compensation required for the loss of nonfïshenes wildlife habitat. The purpose of this study is to synthesize an improved environmental impact assessment mechanism to estimate appropnate compensation levels for the loss of nonfisheries wildlife habitat. This is achieved by initiaify developing a research inventory of compensation mechanisms and decisions involving the loss of wildlife habitat. A modified goals achievement matrix (GAMJ is used to measure the effectiveness and appropriateness of existing compensation mechanisrns, against specsed measurement criteria developed £Yom the literature, to establish an irnproved mechanism. A simple simulation exercise is conducted to evaluate the practicaiity of the recomrnended improved mechanism. It is a finding of this study that the usefulness of existing compensation mechanisms for wildlife habitat are signiticantly restricted by poiïcy and scientSc deficiencies. It is recommended that an inclusive and mandatory compensation requirement be adopted by all levels of govenunent to address nonfisheries wildlife habitat losses. At a minimum, this requirement should: i) discourage the general use of compensation, ü) strictly prohibit monetary compensation, iii) use area as a surrogate measurement of habitat value until a more ecological approach is developed, and iv) apply 1: 1 creation to lost and 2: 1 securement to lost habitat ratios to encourage creation over simple preservation. Due to its extensive use in impact assessment, substantial additional research is required to further the development of compensation theory and methodology with respect to wildlife habitat. To Mom and Dad We don 't Iearn what we don 't want to know or regmd ar unimportanf. -Lynton K. Caldwell (1 988) This report would not have been cornpleted without the support of many individuals. To these people 1will always be indebted and gratehl. 1would like to th& my mother Adele, father Hugh (deceased), and brother Douglas who have aiways stood by me and supported my educational pursuits. 1 thank the staff, faculty, and al1 my fellow ciassrnates fiom over my many years of enrollment in the School of Resource and Environmental Management. Their assistance and camaraderie will always be remembered, Particular thanks to my supervisory cornmittee of Dr. Chad Day and Dr. Don Alexander for their efforts in seeing me through. Without Dr. Day's patience, encouragement, and flexibility, 1 could not have completed this program. Thank you to the many individuals and organizations who answered my multitude of questions and provided valuable unpublished information for this report, especially Mr. B. Clark of the BC Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks- 1would iike to recognïze the financial assistance provided by my employer, Transport Canada, and the many managers and supervisors who supported my studies over the years. I am officially back at work! To al1 my fnends, thank-you for your assistance and continuai encouragement. 1am most gratefül for the support of my dear fnend, Mr. Leslie Szarnosi. Most of all, 1would lke to thank Brenda and KyIe for their love, encouragement, and patience. CONTENTS ... ABSTRACT ..................,............................................................................................... m ACKNO WLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ..................... ... .......................................................... 1 1.1 Research Purpose .................................................. ,.. .............................................. 1 1.2 Research Objectives ....... ........................................................................................ 2 1.3 Study Methods ....................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Research Inventory Selection .................................................................................. 3 1.5 Report Structure ...........................,....................................................................... 4 Chapter 2 . BACKGROUND ........................................................................................... 5 2.1 Problem Statement ................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Compensation in Environmentai Assessrnent ........................................................... 7 2.2.1 Definition ......................................................................................................... 7 2.2.2 Role and Application of Compensation in Environmental Assessrnent ............... 8 3.2.3 General Types of Compensation ..................................................................... 11 2.2.4 Frameworks for. Determining. Compensation ................................................... 12 2.2.5 Evaluative Cntena .......................................................................................... 15 2.3 Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat ........................................... .. .... 16 2.3.1 Wildlife & Wildlife Habitat - Canada's National Asset .................................... 16 2.3.2 Endangered Species and Spaces ..................................................................... 16 2.3 -3 Chronic Loss of Widlife Habitat .................................................................. 18 2.3 -4 Urgency for Govemment Policy and Action .................................................... 21 2.3 -5 Compensation in Wildiife Management .......................................................... -22 2.4 Limitations of Compensation ................................................................................ 23 ...........................,............,. 2 .4.1 Uncertainty ...........................,............,. 23 2.4.2 Lack of Success ............................................................................................. 24 2.4.3 Foliow-up Monitoring and Research .............................................................. 25 2.4.4 Administrative Mïsuse .................................................................................... 27 2.4.5 Scientific Limitations ...................................................................................... 30 2.4.6 Practical Reality ................................................. .. 36 Chapter 3 . METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 39 3.1 Research Inventory ............................................................................................... 40 3.1.1 Current Poiicy Mechanisms ............................................................................ 41 vii TABLES Table 1. Annual Totals of Wildlife Species at Risk ................................................... 17 Table 2 . Wetland Losses Attributed to Specific Land Use in Canada ............................ 19 Table 3 . Comparkon of Habitat Types in Lower Mainland Between 1880 and 1985..... 20 Table 4 . Compensation Policy Mechanisrn .Federal Policy on Wetland Conservation .. 50 Table 5 . Compensation Policy Mechanism .BC MELP and CWS Regional Wddlife Guidelines ..-50 Table 6 . Compensation Policy Mechanisrn .Policy E-13 Surrey Official Comrnunity Plan ........... 51 Table 7 . Compensation Policy Mechanism .BC Water Act ............ ... ..................... 51 Table 8 . Compensation Policy Mechanism .BC WiZdZife Act ....................................... 52 Table 9 . Compensation Policy Mechanisrn .Federal Policy on Fish Habitat .................. 52 Table 10 . Inventory of Compensation Decisions ........................................................... 65 Table Il. GAM Criteria ..............................................................................................