NOOTKA LANDSCAPE UNIT

Transcription

1 NOOTKA LANDSCAPE UNIT Summary Biodiversity Report With Proposed Legal Objectives Prepared by: Sue McDonald, RPBio April 2009

2 Table of Contents 1. LANDSCAPE UNIT DESCRIPTION VANCOUVER ISLAND LAND USE PLAN (VILUP)... 1 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ZONE (Appendix 1) VILUP HIGHER LEVEL PLAN OBJECTIVES FIRST NATIONS CONSULTATION & TRADITIONAL TERRITORIES (Appendix 2) MINING TENURES OLD GROWTH MANAGEMENT AREAS (Appendix 3) MARBLED MURRELET NESTING HABITAT TIMBER HARVESTING LAND BASE IMPACT PROPOSED OBJECTIVES... 4 APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX

3 1. LANDSCAPE UNIT DESCRIPTION The encompasses the Bajo, Beano, Blowhole, Brodick, Calvin, Ewart, Guise, Kendrick, Laurie and Owossitsa Creek drainages. Total size: 55,978 ha Productive Forest: 53,045 ha Timber Harvesting Land Base: 19,135 ha (TSR3) Total Protected Areas: 2,537 ha Biogeoclimatic Units: CWHvh1, CWHvm1, and CWHvm2 Intermediate Biodiversity Emphasis Option 2. VANCOUVER ISLAND LAND USE PLAN (VILUP) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ZONE (Appendix 1) Special Zone: Western Nootka Island (12) General Zone: Nootka (20) 3. VILUP HIGHER LEVEL PLAN OBJECTIVES 4. FIRST NATIONS ASSERTED TRADITIONAL TERRITORIES (Appendix 2) Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations: 451,590 ha Nuchatlaht First Nations: 63,863 ha 5. MINING TENURES The establishment of an OGMA will not have an impact on the status of existing mineral and gas permits or tenures. Exploration and development activities are permitted in OGMAs. The preference is to proceed with exploration and development in a way that is sensitive to the old growth values of the OGMA; however, if exploration and development proceeds to the point of significantly impacting old growth values, then the OGMA will be moved. 6. OLD GROWTH MANAGEMENT AREAS (Appendix 3) CWHvm1 o old seral target: ha o delineated OGMA: ha o forested OGMA: ha CWHvm2 o old seral target: ha 1

4 o delineated OGMA: ha o forested OGMA: ha CWHvh1 o old seral target: ha o delineated OGMA: ha o forested OGMA: ha o Table 1. Summary of Nootka OGMAs and Protected Areas by BEC unit 1. OGMA OGMA PA 3 (old) Total Old Seral Shortfall/ BEC Unit Old (ha) Recruitment 2 (ha) OGMA 4 (ha) Target (ha) Surplus (ha) CWHvm CWHvm CWHvh Total Targets and OGMA hectares are calculated for WFP tenure only. These totals do not include area outside WFP tenure. 2 defined as productive forest within an OGMA that is <250 years old. The majority of the identified recruitment is > 80 years old. with 78.7 ha less than 80 years old (mostly within CWH vm1). 3 includes: delineated Class 1-3 Marbled Murrelet Habitat (CWH vh1 total old ha with ha suitable mamu habitat) 4 includes non-forested area (eg rock, swamp, non-productive). 7. MARBLED MURRELET NESTING HABITAT Potential Marbled Murrelet nesting habitat was mapped using data from low-level aerial reconnaissance surveys complete in Total potential nesting habitat (Class 1-3): ha Nesting habitat in OGMA: ha Nesting habitat in Protected Area: ha 28.5% of the Class 1-3 nesting habitat is conserved through OGMAs. Table 2. Summary of potential marbled murrelet nesting habitat in OGMAs MAMU Habitat Rank LU Total (ha) PA (ha) OGMA (ha) Percent Conserved Total Percent

5 8. TIMBER HARVESTING LAND BASE IMPACT Total Impact: ha or 5.0% of the total TSR3 THLB for the landscape unit. Table 3. Summary of estimated THLB impact of OGMAs Estimated Inoperable TSR3 THLB Underbudget/ BEC Unit Budget (ha) Impact (ha) 1 Overbudget CWHvm CWHvm CWHvh Total TSR3 THLB updated to include approved Ungulate Winter Range. Harvest Opportunity Impact: 2226 ha as estimated by operational engineers. Table 4. Summary of estimated harvest opportunity impact of THLB in OGMAs. BEC Estimated Harvest Unit Opportunity in OGMAs (ha) CWHvm CWHvm2 139 CWHvh1 91 Total 2226 Overall, the Nootka landscape unit appears to have a bigger discrepancy, than other landscape units in this region, between the modelled Timber Harvesting Landbase and on-the-ground harvest opportunity. 3

6 9. PROPOSED OBJECTIVES OLD GROWTH MANAGEMENT AREAS Preamble The goal of these objectives is to sustain biological diversity at the landscape level. Permissible activities are described to streamline administrative procedures and address operational safety concerns. First Nations traditional use of forest resources, treaty negotiations or settlements will not be limited by the following objectives. Legal Objectives Pursuant to Section 93.4 of the Land Act, the following are the landscape unit objectives for the. 1. Maintenance or recruitment of old growth forests Maintain or recruit old growth forests in established Old Growth Management Areas (OGMAs), located in the subject to section 2 below. The Nootka OGMAs are shown on the attached map dated April 5, 2009 (Appendix 3). The boundaries of the established OGMAs are defined by the spatial data set contained in the provincial Land and Resources Data Warehouse (LRDW) accessible through Geo BC at 2. Minor boundary adjustments and permissible activities within OGMAs (Excludes Ungulate Winter Range and Wildlife Habitat Areas) (a) Minor OGMA boundary adjustments for operational reasons: To accommodate operational requirements for timber harvesting and road or bridge construction, the boundary of an OGMA may be adjusted, provided that: i) the boundary adjustment does not result in a net loss to the area of the OGMA of more than the greater of one hectare or 10% of the original area, ii) road, bridge or right-of-way construction is required to access resource values beyond or adjacent to the OGMA and no other practicable option for road, bridge or right-of-way location exists, and iii) replacement forest is biologically suitable, of equivalent age, structure and area, and situated, in order of priority, either immediately adjacent to the existing OGMA, or in the same variant and landscape unit as the existing OGMA. In the case of ii) above, as an alternative to finding replacement area, once 4

7 access through the portion of OGMA is no longer required for harvesting and silviculture obligations, roads within the OGMA will be deactivated as per section 82(1) (a), (b), and (c) of the Forest Planning and Practices Regulation. In recognition of surplus suitable old seral forest located in protected areas or required for species at risk management within the Nootka Landscape Unit, the requirement under iii) above may be waived provided the total old seral forest targets for each biogeoclimatic variant are maintained, as shown in Table A. Table A: Nootka LU Old Seral Minimum Requirements. BEC Unit Old Seral Target (ha) CWHvm CWHvm2 485 MHmm Total 6896 (b) Permissible activities within OGMAs i) Topping or pruning of trees along the boundary to improve wind firmness. ii) Timber harvesting to prevent the spread of insect infestations or diseases that pose significant threat to forested areas outside of OGMAs. Salvage within OGMAs will be done in a manner that retains as many old growth forest attributes as possible. iii) Road maintenance, deactivation, removal of danger trees, or brushing and clearing on existing roads under active tenure within the right-of-way for safety purposes. iv) Felling for guyline clearance, tailhold anchor trees, or danger trees along cutblock boundaries or within the right of way on existing and new road/bridge alignments to meet safety requirements. OGMA replacement forest is required if the activities in 2 (b) above result in a net loss to the area of the OGMA of more than the greater of one hectare or 10% of the area of the OGMA and the total area of mature and old seral forest maintained in OGMAs plus the contributing old seral forest area in Protected Areas is reduced below the minimum target area outlined in Table A. Replacement forest must be biologically suitable, of equivalent age, structure and area, and situated, in order of priority, either immediately adjacent to the existing OGMA, or in the same variant and landscape unit as the existing OGMA. 5

8 3. Map updates OGMA adjustments and replacements made in accordance with Section 2 must be documented and submitted as digital spatial data to the delegated decision maker at the end of each calendar year. The spatial data set contained in the provincial Land and Resources Data Warehouse (LRDW) will be updated accordingly and the updated map will be accessible through GeoBC at 6

9 APPENDIX 1: Map of VILUP Resource Management Zones within the Nootka LU 7

10 APPENDIX 2: First Nations Asserted Traditional Territories in Nootka. 8

11 APPENDIX 3: Map of Draft OGMAs and contributing old seral in Protected Area within the Nootka LU 9