Forestry and oil and gas companies need to work with government if the Little Smoky caribou herd north of Hinton is to survive, according to Wayne Thorp, a forestry representative and director with the Foothills research institute landscape management forum.

Thorp delivered a talk at the Foothills Research Institute as part of the organizations’ lunch box speaker series on Oct. 16.

Government and industry have not been working together, as the province has continued to introduce mitigating regulations, which have not helped the caribou, according to Thorp.

“The problem is they keep adding (mitigation regulations) on, and caribou are still in decline at the end of the day. They have never been measured for success with caribou,” Thorp said. “We have to look at a better way we can reduce our footprint.”

Thorp said one way industry can help caribou habitat is by sharing roads. Currently, oil and gas and forestry companies build their own roads, which often run parallel to one another. Industry can reduce the number of roads constructed by 40 per cent if they co-operate, Thorp said.

“We’ve been working in silos. Oil and gas have been doing their thing and forestry have been doing theirs. They haven’t been working together,” Thorp said.

Industry recognizes they are changing the landscape through oil and gas and logging. Fourteen companies and one aboriginal group have formed a group to find solutions.

“Let’s see if we can find solutions and see if we can mitigate impact on the landscape,” Thorp said.

Without such actions, other efforts have been introduced. A wolf cull has been in place for the past three years in order to protect the Little Smoky. A penning program has also been attempted, where pregnant caribou were kept separated from the herd and kept in a pen until they have their young. Two weeks after the birth of the calf, the mother and baby are returned to the herd. The result has been a stabilization of herd numbers, however Thorp said such actions are unsustainable.

“We saw a tenfold increase in survival rates,” Thorp said, noting that previously, caribou calf survival was about seven per cent in the Little Smoky herd. Now, it’s about 70 per cent.

In 2006, 10 pregnant caribou cows were captured through the penning program, which resulted in a higher survival rate. However the provincial government had already begun killing wolves to reduce predation, so the results were skewed, Thorp said.

“We proved it could be done,” he said.

Wolves have become more prevalent due to the increase in moose, deer and elk, which are their main prey. Those species are attracted to logging cuts and seismic lines due to the food sources they create, which intrude on caribou habitat. Thorp said wolf culls are a temporary measure, and work must be done to make it safer for caribou and harder on wolves.

He also recognizes industrial development affects caribou population.

“If you have lots of lineal feature density, you will have a decline in caribou populations,” Thorp said, noting that industry is performing a vegetation inventory of historic seismic lines, which are said to have a life span of 70 years.

Seismic lines and block cuts are very common throughout the Little Smoky caribou range.

“They have an effect on predator and caribou movement,” Thorp said.

Caribou are not natural prey for wolves, and don’t defend well against the predators. Lines give wolves easier access to caribou habitat.

“We have to manage the habitat so don’t have flush of wolf food come into a caribou habitat,” Thorp said.

Artificial regeneration can be used to lessen the effects of seizmic line creation, he said.

Industry will continue to have a presence on the landscape, Thorp said, as the premier has noted forestry and oil and gas will continue to operate in order to get the province out of a recession.

“Government wants industry on the landscape. We need industry more to be more competitive, and we need to protect caribou habitat at the same time,” Thorp said.

“Can we continue to do this level of development and still have caribou? I believe we can if we’re adaptive and use the right approach.”

Forestry is also bracing for an expansion of mountain pine beetle, which will also affect caribou habitat.

“How are you going to manage caribou with a threat like that coming at us,” Thorp asked. “You need to deal with all limiting factors.”

He said there isn’t one issue that will lead to the salvation of the caribou, but several actions are required.

“Even if we completely removed forestry from the landscape, the caribou are probably toast without other actions,” said biologist Rick Bonner.

Industry are going to work on vegetation, and will support the west central caribou recovery project, Thorp said.

“We’ll use research as a basis for moving forward, increase funding and being accountable. Industry and government have to keep each other accountable,” Thorp said.

He said industry does have positive effects as well, as they create more habitat for elk, moose and deer.

“But we have negative effects on other areas,” Thorp said.