The Mount Edith Cavell Road will re-open Feb. 15 following a temporary winter closure. 

Parks Canada shut the road down as the snow fell in the fall of 2010 to help maintain the Tonquin Valley caribou herd and stop wolves from using cross-country ski trails. Now, with the snow pack stiffer the road will re-open for skiers and other users. 

Parks Canada biologist Mark Bradley said evidence has suggested that caribou have been using the area, but wolves have not. 

“They didn’t really do anything really different than last year,” he said of the wolves. 

Cameras set up in the area will hopefully help Parks capture a glimpse of the caribou’s movement over the winter months. That data will be combined with radio collars, and a calf/cow count will be conducted in the spring to compliment a general count that was done in the fall. 

Bradley said cross-country skiers most likely will not see caribou if they choose to ski in the area, but evidence of their movement could be visible.

“You don’t often see caribou,” he said. 

The Cavell road will re-open to skiers, but Parks will not be doing tracksetting. Shelley Bird, caribou communications specialist with Parks said the public is free to use the road once it opens on the 15th. 

Bradley said if skiers do catch a glimpse of a caribou, they are encouraged to report the incident. 

“It’s always interesting to find out,” he said.