The Telkwa Caribou Road Restoration project has received a commitment of $278,257 over three years from the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

This project will benefit the Telkwa caribou herd through the reclamation of approximately 100 kilometres of road that will according to the project, reduce interactions of caribou with predators, increase habitat availability and access for predators to alternative prey, and increase intact caribou habitat (mature, old-growth forest) into the future.

Senior conservation planning biologist Laura Greene said the Telkwa caribou herd has been a conservation concern since the late 1960s. 

Increasing landscape change, such as logging, road-building, human settlement, etc., is what has driven the decline of the Telkwa caribou, Greene explained. Habitat alteration can result in the direct loss of habitat for caribou, a decrease in habitat quality, and/or a shift in the predator-prey dynamics, resulting in more caribou being killed by predators.

The Telkwa herd currently has around 30 animals in it, which Greene said has seen some great improvements in the last couple of years, but the federal recovery strategy for southern mountain caribou suggests this population should be at least 100 animals.

She said this project is an important piece of the puzzle to help the herd recover.

"Roads increase predator efficiency and access, which can lead to caribou being more likely to be killed by predators," she explained. "And secondly, roads change the quality of the caribou habitat. In other words, they remove intact caribou habitat and also fragment intact caribou habitat. Caribou don't like this. Basically, they tend to avoid areas with higher road densities because of this predation risk and habitat quality issue."

She said the province has done a number of things for the Telkwa caribou herd to support their recovery in the past.

"We've worked really closely with local recreational stakeholders to develop a recreation management plan, and then we've also put in an order, a legal order, that manages forest harvest in a certain way that we think will better support Telkwa caribou recovery so road restoration, this project, is kind of like the next step to recovering that habitat to a point that better supports the long term health of this herd."

Greene also explained that a lot of the roads tend to be the result of logging in the area. As part of the process, they go out and look at these roads, and work with the forest licensees, to identify roads that are good candidates, i.e., they don't need to be used anymore by licensees, and also they they aren't recovering the way they would want to see roads recover.

The project involves functional and ecological restoration to restore the areas.

"One of the purposes of restoration is to decrease predator efficiency right off the bat," she said. 

She explained that as they mound the road, they break up sight lines and pull debris onto the road so predators won't be able to travel as efficiently. They also tear up the road, so it's difficult for humans to walk on as well as predators.

"So that's what we call functional restoration, and... that's also very good prep work for ecological restoration, which is the planting of trees on the road to facilitate those roads becoming intact habitat again, so part of the forest again."  

The project is collaborative with local stakeholders and First Nations, and funding is secured for three years, with potential for an extension.

She also noted that many wildlife species will benefit from this as well, including Grizzly bears, which also tend to avoid roads. 

Greene added they are ensuring the roads they choose do not affect recreational access to the area.