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Southern Lakes Caribou Recovery Program Progress Report: 1992-1996

Program Activities

The Southern Lakes Caribou Recovery Program started in 1993, with support from the Council for Yukon First Nations (then the Council of Yukon Indians), Yukon Department of Renewable Resources, and a great deal of volunteer work. A two year funding grant from the Canada-Yukon Economic Development Agreement in April 1994 allowed expansion of the program. Following is a summary of program activities during the past 3 years.

GOALS
To increase knowledge of the Southern Lakes caribou herd, and to encourage community involvement in its recovery.

HIGHLIGHTS
Community workshops
Local residents defined the management problems and potential solutions, and developed a work plan to implement the recovery program, in workshops held in February and May of 1993. Another workshop is planned for April 1996 to renew the work plan.

Steering Group
Community residents and representatives from the Council for Yukon First Nations and the Yukon Dept. of Renewable Resources have held regular meetings to guide the program since April 1994.

Game guardians
Dan Cresswell and Art Johns were hired, and they have met with hunters and travelers, and spoken to families and schools about conserving the caribou and the recovery program. Other First Nations members have been hired to interview elders, take part in moose surveys, and record data phoned in about sightings of wildlife in the area.

Elder interviews
Twenty-nine elders were interviewed about their knowledge of caribou and other wildlife in the Southern Lakes area. Twelve other local long-term residents were also interviewed.

School groups
Art Johns led a group of Carcross students on a field trip to caribou rutting grounds. Janet McDonald gave talks at local schools and to students in the Renewable Resources Program at Yukon College.

Lichen school program
A curriculum unit was developed and tested to promote better understanding of the importance of lichens to caribou.

Communications with First Nations
These have been maintained through frequent informal conversations, notices in newsletters, and attendance at elders gatherings and General Assemblies.

Public service announcements
Messages were aired frequently on television and radio discussing the recovery program, urging hunter restraint, and thanking residents for their cooperation. Filler ads were run in the newspaper reminding the public of the needs of the caribou.

Media features
The program was profiled in several feature newspaper articles, and on radio and television.

24-hour wildlife telephone hotline
The public was requested via radio and newspaper ads to report all sightings of caribou, moose and wolves in the area. Eighty calls were received during the first two months in February-March 1995.

Conference presentations
Presentations about the program were made at the International Arctic Ungulate Symposium in Fairbanks in August 1995, and at the Circumpolar Aboriginal People and Co-management Practice Workshop in Inuvik in November of 1995.

Meetings
Presentations about the program were made to the Yukon Fish and Game Association, Marsh Lake Community Association, Teslin Renewable Resources Council, and Mount Lorne Community Association.

Program logo
Local artist George Poulin donated the artwork for the program's logo

Public field trips
Families were able to visit and learn about the winter range of the caribou on field trips by snowmobile, skis, and snowshoes, organized with the Yukon Conservation Society.

Mailbox notices
Area households received 3 cards requesting that they report their observations, and informing them of field trips.

Colouring contest
Thirty-nine children submitted entries (the maximum ever!) to a colouring contest published in cooperation with the Yukon News.

Prizes and products
Mugs, refrigerator magnets, decals and posters were widely distributed to publicize the program.

NEEDS

• Maintaining a strong steering group, with representation from B.C.
• Keeping the program a community and First Nations-coordinated initiative.
• Strengthening public awareness of need to protect caribou habitat, and effects of fences and harassment by dogs or snowmobiles on caribou.
• Continuing to keep the program in the public eye through the media.
• Evaluating different ways of getting the program's messages to the public, including creating a video of the program.
• Returning information to those who report sightings.
• Collecting traditional knowledge from Kwanlin Dün, Ta'an Kwäch'än, Teslin Tlingit, and Champagne and Aishihik elders.
• Training volunteers and others in the community to increase public participation.
• Training students, focusing on collaborative nature of program.
• Hiring more First Nations members to implement the program.

GOALS
To reduce the number of caribou being killed by hunters and motorists.

HIGHLIGHTS
Voluntary reduction in hunting
The governments of six First Nations agreed to voluntarily stop hunting caribou in the Southern Lakes region in 1993. Hunters complied with this request, and the increase in the number of caribou in the Ibex herd after 10 years at low density may be the first signs of its effect.

Alternative sources of game meat
Sixteen caribou were shot from the Porcupine Caribou Herd in 1994, and distributed to members of the Carcross/Tagish and Kwanlin Dün First Nations. Kwanlin Dün members also hunted on the Dempster Highway again in 1995. The Yukon Outfitter's Association donated 200 lbs. of meat in 1994. All First Nations members were encouraged to hunt caribou from the 45,000-strong Nelchina herd near Beaver Creek in 1995-96.

Road and trail signs
Eight large signs were put up in the Southern Lakes area requesting that hunters refrain from shooting caribou.

Alaska Highway signs
Two signs were put up in the Judas Creek area to warn motorists about caribou on the road, to try to reduce road kills.

"No hunting" clips
Messages were aired frequently on television and radio. Letters were sent to 1700 First Nations households with the same message.

B.C. hunting
One management subzone was closed to caribou hunting in British Columbia.

Squanga region hunting
A proposal was submitted to the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board in October 1995 to close hunting of caribou in the Squanga region northeast of Whitehorse.

NEEDS

• Maintaining patrols by First Nations game guardians. These have been critical to keeping harvest levels low.
• Encouraging First Nations hunters to harvest meat from abundant sources elsewhere.
• Working towards protection of caribou in B. C. where they are still hunted in some areas.
• Monitoring the survival of radio-collared animals.
• Providing hunters with information about herd growth, and thanking them for their cooperation.
• Increasing public understanding of the sacrifices by First Nations hunters in not harvesting caribou.

GOALS
To prevent further loss of habitat important to the caribou, and develop land use policies that will protect habitats for caribou and moose.

HIGHLIGHTS
Map of winter range
Critical winter habitats of caribou were mapped based on movements of radio-collared animals. This map was given to the Yukon government's Environmental Protection and Agriculture Branches, and federal Forestry officials.

Local knowledge
Information on wildlife range use and the locations of mineral licks were mapped, from interviews with elders and hotline observations.

Land development
Program staff reviewed agricultural and forestry lease applications, and recommended against development within critical habitats.

Land use guidelines
The Yukon Dept. of Renewable Resources developed interim guidelines for making decisions on the effects of development on caribou, and mitigative measures which could be taken.

Fire history map
A map of the fire history of the Southern Lakes region was completed.

Lichen abundance
The abundance of lichens was measured during the summer of 1995 to assess the quality of different habitat types for caribou.

Habitat use
Detailed surveys of winter habitat use by caribou were conducted from the air during the winter of 1995-96.

Snowmobiler pamphlet
Meetings were held with the Klondike Snowmobile Association about developing a pamphlet to educate snowmobilers about the winter life of caribou and how to avoid disturbing and displacing them.

NEEDS

• Gathering more detailed information on important habitats, and updating the critical habitats map. This information will be necessary to address applications for new developments in the region.
• Providing input into land use guidelines developed in the area.
• Incorporating information on habitats, caribou locations, and land use into a computer database which could then be used to avoid caribou-development conflicts.
• Holding training workshops for resource developers.
• Identifying important migration routes.

GOALS
To assess and limit the effects of predation by wolves and bears on caribou recovery.

HIGHLIGHTS
Wolf trapping
Local trappers who rarely trap wolves, were contacted to seek permission to trap wolves on their lines, and snares were set for wolves at one landfill.

Trappers' workshop
A workshop on wolf trapping was held in Tagish, and 36 trappers were invited. Only one trapper attended.

Elder interviews
The locations of some wolf dens were documented from interviews with elders.

Analysis of bear harvest
Harvest records of bears in the region were reviewed and analyzed.

Analysis of predation on Ibex herd calves
Thirteen years of rut counts and one late winter count revealed the highest calf survival found in the Yukon. Predation is not a concern with this herd at this time.

NEEDS

• Evaluating the potential effects of predation on the caribou through monitoring the survival of caribou.
• Developing training programs in wolf-trapping techniques for local trappers.
• Assessing the seasonal abundance of bears in the areas with low survival of caribou calves.

GOALS
To monitor population trends of caribou, moose, and sheep, and the survival, movements, and ranges of caribou.

HIGHLIGHTS
Caribou surveys
Caribou have been counted during the rutting seasons in 1994 and 1995 throughout the region.

Radio collars
Forty-two caribou have been radio-collared and regularly re-located. The ranges of these animals during calving, calf-rearing, and rutting seasons, as well as through the winter season have been mapped. Survival rates have been about 85% per year.

Elder interviews
Elders provided historic knowledge of wildlife abundance and range use.

Moose surveys
Moose were counted in three parts of the caribou range during 1994 and 1995. These counts suggested that moose numbers were low in the Whitehorse area and that they had declined over 40% since 1986.

NEEDS

• Continuing keeping careful track of caribou numbers in the Southern Lakes region.
• Document the harvest of moose in the Southern Lakes region.
• Developing conservation strategies for moose and sheep. Healthy populations of these species are important for the caribou recovery, as they are alternative prey of predators and humans alike.