Weyerhaeuser's Solution

Weyerhaeuser has adopted long-term habitat management principles for integrating caribou habitat needs into forest management practices. These principles, and the resulting strategies and practices, are recognized by provincial governments, and are being reflected in forest policy more frequently. They are:

• Manage forests to ensure habitat for caribou is maintained over time.
• Ensure that caribou requirements are met while still meeting other forest stewardship commitments (such as soil disturbance and water quality).
• Manage road access to address concerns such as predation and unregulated hunting.

For example, in Alberta, Weyerhaeuser:

• Concentrates harvesting in one contiguous area at a time in large blocks (up to 1,000 hectares) rather than harvesting across the entire range using a traditional two- or three-pass harvest pattern. This will avoid fragmentation of the entire range.
• Maintains a significant amount of forest structure after the harvest to provide habitat for other wildlife.

The new contiguous areas will regenerate as an even-aged forest and will be arranged so the remaining parts of the range are not isolated. This will help ensure:

• The perpetuity of quality caribou habitat.
• The caribou's predator avoidance strategy of dispersing across large areas is not compromised.
• Caribou have the opportunity for unobstructed travel across the range.