Ungulate Winter Range
The planning process for ungulate (hooved) species is done separately from most other species of plants and animals. On May 3, 2004 the Minister of Water Land and Air Protection (Min. Bill Barisoff) issued an Order under the Government Action Regulation (GAR) declaring which ungulate species would be included under the category of Ungulate Winter Range (UWR) for the entire province.
“The Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection has determined that the list of ungulate species identified in schedule 1 are a category of ungulate species for which an ungulate winter range may be required for the winter survival of the identified species.”
This was an ‘enabling order’ under GAR. It did not specify where the habitats for each species were located. This enabling order gave government staff all over the province the guidance needed for which species they were allowed to specifically set aside winter habitat. This habitat would be required due to the potential for adverse winter conditions having a significant negative impact on the ungulate specie. This requirement may be specific to one landscape unit or many landscape units. It may be all within one forest district or in many forest districts across the province.
When the order was issued in 2004, the staff in each forest district would then evaluate the necessity of identifying UWR for the ungulate species in their forest district, and then determine the urgency of defining the habitat on a landscape unit by landscape unit basis. The urgency would determine the priority of establishing the UWR areas when compared to other landscape level planning activities being done by staff.
When a specie is declared to be on the Endangered Species List (ie – Red listed) under the federal Species at Risk Act (SAR), the urgency is elevated over a specie that is not on the list.
In the Sunshine Coast Forest District, only three ungulate species are present; black-tailed deer, elk, mountain goat. Regional and District wildlife staff determined that only one of the ungulate species was urgent. Two other (non-ungulate) wildlife species were also deemed urgent. Those three species are:
Â Â Â 1.Â Marbled murrelet (bird)
Â Â Â 2.Â Grizzly bear (mammal)
Â Â Â 3.Â Mountain goat (mammal, ungulate)
There is a tremendous amount of published information discussing the issues related to wildlife management in British Columbia.Â Following is a small sampling of information primarily focused on Roosevelt elk.