ECO ECHO

ECO - Environmental Commissioner of Ontario

ECO - also sometimes used  like eco-tourism, eco-friendly

ECHO - v.t. - imitate opinions


November 2006, The Wildlands League files suit to stop logging in Ontario because of no success in the recovery strategy for Woodland Caribou.

Since the recovery strategy was still in draft form it was difficult to see how it could have failed as it hadn't been implemented.

October 2009, the MNR released the Ontario Woodland Caribou Conservation Plan, outlining the Ontario government would take to protect and recover the threatened Woodland Caribou and its habitat.

September 2010, The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario press release: " Government's plan will not save caribou."

Do you hear an ECO echo?

On page 60, of his 225 page report, he notes:  "...members of the public filed an EBR application in 2006 requesting a monitoring program for woodland caribou to which MNR has yet to respond."  "Without such monitoring it is impossible to detect failure and determine whether a program is achieving its objectives."

Here is a man, appointed by the Legislature of Ontario, to another five year term, after already serving ten years in that same position, making equivocal statement.  If there has been no monitoring as he states then how can he say the plan will not work?  Not only say it in his report but deliberately headline it in his press release of September 22, 2010. (www.huffstrategy.com/MediaManager/Includes/Print.php?ReleaseID+2036 )

Earthroots Executive Director, Wednesday, 22 September, 2010 16:26 : "We hope that the ECO's report will spur the government to implement a comprehensive monitoring program while clarifying intact caribou habitat that will be protected from industrial development."

Do you hear an eco echo?

The ECO likes referring to the year 2006.  I , also, have quotes from that same time period.

November 2006:  I tracked down the then Regional Wildlife Biologist for the Northwest Region/Wildlife Section in Thunder Bay, Ontario.   He said, and I quote, " As you know, the Ministry of Natural Resources has been involved, along with our many partners, in managing woodland caribou habitat in forest management plans across the boreal forest for some time.  As you inferred, we will not fully understand how successful our caribou habitat management measures have been for several decades, until the caribou reoccupy forests that were logged and subsequently regenerated to mature forests.  However, the caribou habitat guidelines are based upon a substantial amount of caribou science and knowledge.  Additionally, we have been working to gain information on the success of our management decisions where possible on an ongoing interim basis, and improving management practices through an adaptive management process as we proceed based upon new scientific information and management experience, and we will continue to do so." End quote.

Principle - n.  settled reason of action 

September 2010, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), states: (page 65, 2009-2010 Annual Report): "While species habitat management is an important consideration of forest management, it is clearly not its primary purpose."

Let us read forward to page 70, item 3.7 : Forest Management: Conserving Biodiversity at the Stand and Site Scale...Major issues addressed through direction in the guide include: #1 stand composition, pattern and structure to allow for a variety of wildlife habitats.  #2 dealt with shorelines. #3 forestry activities in the ranges of particular forest species, such as moose, deer and birds and #4 forestry activities in habitats of species at risk.

ECO even admits on page 72, that this guide will increase protection of habitat for species not covered by ESA (2007).

Let us look at the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994 c 25, s.2, wherein it defines its  two principles for determining the sustainability of our forest.

Principle # 1. Large healthy, diverse and productive crown forests and their associated ecological diversity should be conserved.

Principle # 2. Long term health and vigour of Crown forests should be provided for by using forest practices that, within the limits of silvicultural requirements, emulate natural disturbances and landscape patterns while minimizing adverse effects on plant life, animal life, water, soil, air and social and economic values, recreation and heritage values.

Crown Land Planning:  http://www.mnr.gov.ca/  ... careful management of forest operations under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act provides the combined supply of habitat for more than 300 species of wildlife over time.

Natural Resources Canada,  http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/  , Canada's Forests - Sustainable Forest Management, Crown Lands of Canada Forest Management Plans... must manage for forest values other than timber.

ECO Annual Report 2009-2010, page 61:  "Little or no direction is provided in the conservation plan."

Let us look at the Recovery Strategy for Forest Dwelling Woodland Caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Ontario, 9draft) Prepared  by the Ontario Woodland Caribou Recovery Team, February 3, 2005  page 53: Priority High:

Approaches:  Integrate caribou recovery with forest management planning operations by incorporating caribou survival and recovery requirements into amalgamation of current forest management guidelines into Landscape and Stand level guides; refine guidelines during prescribed reviews based on effectiveness monitoring and other information; integrate caribou recovery requirements with the development or refinement of other resource and land use planning operational guides.

Anticipated Effect:  Provides direction and guidance to identify and provide habitat in land use and resource management plans and mitigate potential impacts on population.

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/    Quote: "Once the plan is approved then you start rolling out the schedules for harvesting, silviculture and management activities." ..."Any deviation from then on is recorded and justified, monitored and audited, assesses and re mediated to create a cycle of involvement." End quote from that Site.

Let us look at Ontario's Woodland Caribou Conservation Plan, (2009) page 19, Table 1.  Preliminary Priorities for implementing the Caribou Conservation Plan in the First Five Years: Timing for key benchmarks (when things are supposed to happen) - 6 month, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years. That is a lot of direction.

Anticipate  v.t.  consider before the due time; foresee 

ECO Annual Report 2009-2010, page 61:  "It is disappointing that the conservation plan,  (June 2009), contained little discussion about how the Premier's commitment to protect at 225,000 square kilometres of the Far North (September 2010) would align with Woodland Caribou conservation."

Now, if he cared to look at page 14, of the Cervid Ecological Framework, he would see where it states that in the Far North the First Nations Land Use Plan will determine what areas are to be protected.

Nonobservance  n.  omission
 
It is noted within the ECO Annula Report for 2009-2010, that while the ECO chastises the June 2009, Ontario Woodland Caribou Conservation Plan of having little discussion of the September 2010 Far North Act's withdrawal of half or Ontario's Northern Boreal Forest from all future anthropogenic sources, the ECO makes no mention of the May 18th, 2010, irenic Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement.

That agreement precipitously deferred 2,657,202.85 hectares of FPAC Tenures nationwide.  In Ontario that equaled 879,841.60 hectares.  (Schedule "I" CBFA Cross reference: Goal 3, Section 13 [ b]  ) Total area of Ontario's Boreal Forest removed in 2010, (plus existing Wabikimi Park) : 3,619,444.50 hectares.

What lives in the deferred areas? 

Woodland Caribou.

What is the CBFA going to do?

Develop Caribou Action Plans for Woodland Caribou.

ECO missed that echo.

Research  n.  investigation, esp. scientific study to try to discover facts 

ECO Annual Report, 2009-2010, page 60:  " The Conservation Plan's emphasis on testing whether woodland caribou will re-occupy logged habitat is of great concern."  Now that is a queer remark as the whole idea  of the plan was to get the caribou back on their historic range, and obviously their historic range has been logged as that is the reason given for their loss of habitat.

Ontario's Woodland Caribou Conservation Plan takes the direction of 21st century research strategy on page 14, Action 4.2 : Ontario will develop caribou habitat policy so that all resource development and management activities within the geographic distribution of caribou with potential to affect provision of caribou habitat consider the implications for Woodland Caribou and include appropriate conservation and mitigation measures.

Quote:  "Sustainable ecosystem management must develop and maintain beneficial interaction between managed and natural systems;  Avoiding these interactions is no longer a practical strategy." ... "incorporating humans directly into models and investigations of the terrestrial biosphere and it s changes, provide and essential foundation for ecological research..."  End quote from: Anthropogenic Biomes, http://www.eoearth.org/article/Anthropogenic_biomes

Lake Nipigon Forest Management Plan Objective for forest cover:  "To ensure a suitable and sustainable landscape containing adequate year-round caribou habitat north of the caribou line."

Ontario's Caribou Conservation Plan, 2009, page 6 : "Adjustments to forest management practices in northwestern Ontario since the early 1990's appear to have some initial success at retaining caribou and caribou habitat near the southern edge of the range." This is based on observation and still in the early stage of new forest growth.

Lake Nipigon Forest - Independent Forest Audit Report - Comparisons and Trend Analysis of Planned versus Actual Forest Operations:  Prepared by Norampac Inc. 2001-2006, page A-55 : "In addition to the spacial habitat supply analysis, two forms of non-spacial habitat supply analysis were conducted.  The first utilized the wildlife habitat suitability matrix in SFMM to identify the amount of preferred habitat that was projected to be available over time within the caribou zone.  The supply for both winter and foraging habitat in the Selected Management Alternative was projected to be highest over time, than  habitat projections for the Null scenario. The second analysis involved the tracking of the amount of upland coniferous forest over 60 years of age in the conventional management zone.  With the use of a caribou mosaic approach, there should theoretically be at least 40% of the area occupied by upland conifers greater than 60 years old.  The analysis demonstrated that this target was achieved."

Environmental Communication Options
"The government's plan calls itself science-based," said Gord Miller. "Instead, its faith-based. We can only pray that caribou will survive."  http://www.huffstrategy.com/MediaManager/Includes/print.php?ReleaseID=2036


The fact that the ECO and staff have trashed the work of scores of scientist who have worked with cervid management for nearly two decades in those three sentences should be grounds for a call for his resignation.

As it takes 40 to 60 years, (maybe even longer) , after a disturbance for forest re-growth sufficient enough for caribou habitat, foresters alive today have come to rely on computer modeling to see into the future.  If that is faith then, face it, we live in a very religious world.