Mount Robson Provincial Park Ecosystem Management Plan

1
Mount Robson Provincial Park Ecosystem Management
Plan

• Rebecca Boronowski
• Brett DeGregorio
• Isaac Paulman

2
Framework

• Description of the Ecosystem Management plan
• Need for plan
• Description of park
• Goals and objectives
• Constraints to management
• Four Ecosystem management zones (EMZs)
• Actions already taken

3
Framework cont.

• Management Plan Critique
• 12 criteria influenced by Grumbine (1994)
• Scoring system from 1-10
• Pros and Cons with regard to each ecosystem
  management theme
  
• Summary

4
The Need for this Plan

• To adapt the BC Parks Master Plan to Mount Robson
  Provincial Park in order to meet specific
  objectives

5
Description of the Park

• Located on West slope of Canadian Rockies in
  British Columbia adjacent to the Alberta border
  
• Encompasses 219,534 Ha.
• Comprises 4 biogeoclimatic Zones
• Alpine tundra
• Englemannn Spruce-Subalpine Fir
• Sub-Boreal Spruce
• Interior Cedar Hemlock

6
Description of the Park cont

• Designated as a World Heritage Site by the United
  Nations
  
• Large tracts of even aged lodgepole pines
• Regeneration from burning of railroad
  construction from 1913-1915

7
Management Goals and Objectives

• To provide an area for the conservation of
  biological diversity of natural forested and
  non-forested ecosystems

• To permit natural disturbance regimes such as
  fire and beetle epidemics to proceed unimpeded

8
Constraints to Management

• Conservation of Biological Diversity
• Protection of critical wildlife habitats,
  habitats of endangered/threatened plants and
  animals, important old forest areas,
  ecologically-significant vegetation, and
  maintainance and creation of target seral stage
  distributions
• Adjacency Issues
• Consideration of management objectives of
  neighbors such as Robson Valley Forest District,
  Jasper National Park, and adjacent timber lands

9
Constraints to Management cont

• Recreation and Visitor Management Objectives
• Visitor safety, protection of cultural and
  heritage resources, maintenance of water quality,
  and considerations for viewscapes

10
The Management Plan

• Divide the park into 4 ecosystem management zones
  (EMZs)
  
• Suppression Zone (EMZ1)
• Prescription Zone (EMZ2)
• Natural Zone (EMZ3)
• Travel Corridor (EMZ4)
• Boundaries delineated using topographic features
  and encompassing areas of similar vegetative
  features

11
The Management Plan

• Each of the four EMZs managed with four main
  objectives in mind
  
• Biodiversity Conservation
• Forest Fire
• Forest Health
• Wildlife

12
Management of the Suppression ZoneGoals
Action

• Establish Old Forest Stands
• Complete Fire Suppression

• Full fire suppression
• Reduction of fuel loads
• Contain and confine all fires
• Education programs for visitors
• Low intensity surface burns
• Manipulation of tree species composition

13
Management of the Prescription ZoneGoals
Action

• Provide summer and winter habitat for endangered
  caribou
  
• Provide habitat for many species of ungulates
• Prevent mountain pine beetle epidemics from
  spreading out of the park
  

• Fire suppression to promote old forest habitat
• Using prescribed burns to avoid large natural
  fires and beetle outbreaks
  

14
Management of the Natural ZoneGoals
Actions

• Allow natural disturbance processes to occur
  unchecked
  
• Halt beetle outbreaks
• Assessment of old forest habitat

• Complete lack of fire suppression, topography
  should halt spread
  
• Early detection and suppression
• Inventory area and distribution of old forest

15
Management of the Travel CorridorGoals
Actions

• Stop spread of fire throughout corridor
• Control animal movements

• Establish network of fire weather stations and
  monitor fire weather
  
• Vegetation manipulation, fencing, and reflectors
  to avoid animal- car collisions

16
Management of the Travel Corridor cont.Goals
Actions

• Stop spread of non-natives
• Contain large scale beetle outbreaks while
  allowing small outbreaks to proceed

• Development of eradication programs
• Early detection and use of pheremones with single
  tree and other silvicultural treatments.
  
• Allow forest to progress to beetle resistant
  stages

17
Proposed Implementation

• Conduct inventories of rare or endangered species
  within the park
  
• Create and utilize spatial information to
  identify critical wildlife habitat
  
• Determine current levels of non-native vegetation
  along ROWs
  
• Develop and carry out eradication methods
• Reduce ignitions and forest stand fuels by
  manipulating composition and structure around
  high use areas
  
• Establish fire weather stations

18
Proposed Implementation

• Develop prescribed burn implementation and
  research program
  
• Ongoing surveillance of pest outbreaks
• Increased public awareness of forest health
  issues
  
• More precisely determine winter habitat
  requirements for caribou
  
• Reduce ungulate use of forests near highways
• Sware-flex reflectors/one way fencing
• Decrease attractive vegetation
• Plant palatable vegetation along gas line ROWs

19
Action Thus Far

• Installation of two fire weather stations near
  Park Headquarters and in Upper Fraser Watershed
  (99)
  
• Allowing Brule fire (205 Ha) in 96
• Winter habitat assessment for mountain caribou
  (98)
  
• Allowing the Moose fire (2500 Ha) in 98
• Installation of Sware-flex wildlife reflectors
• Completion of a preliminary rare and endangered
  vascular plan species inventory in 99
  
• Aerial mountain pine beetle mapping and ground
  surveys in 99
  
• Fire management plan in 2000

20
Ecosystem Critique

• The plan presented was an adequate ecosystem
  management plan that we believe would
  successfully, yet not perfectly, meet the goals
  and the objectives of the park
• We developed critique criteria of our own, that
  was influenced by Grumbines (1994) dominant
  themes of ecosystem management, to evaluate this
  management plan as a truly successful ecosystem
  management plan
• We used 12 grading criteria and scored each theme
  on a scale of 1-10

21
Ecosystem Patterns and Processes Score 10
-

• Effort to keep disturbance regimes as natural as
  possible
  
• Managed for Mountain pine beetle (MPB) and fire
  disturbances

• Made no mention of possible implications of
  management techniques of distribution and
  occurrence of small scale disturbances such as
  wind and ice

22
Interagency Cooperation Score 9 -

• The plan recommends cooperation with 11 different
  organizations and industries

• Doesnt mention cooperation with adjacent timber
  industry landowners
  
• Only makes recommendations for cooperation,
  doesnt go any further

23
Humans as a Part of Nature Score 9 -

• Management is guided by differing recreation
  levels throughout the park
  
• Safety and aesthetics are constantly considered
• Safety along highway and railroad right of ways
  is a dominant concern throughout the plan

• Does not take into account the effects of
  management on ecosystem processes

24
Ecological Boundaries Score 8 -

• Plan takes into account adjacent parks and timber
  lands
  
• Plan creates corridors for species travel into
  and out of park boundaries
  
• Plan takes into account spread of disturbances
  over park boundaries

• No mention of the role Alberta will play in
  management of the park
  
• No mention of the management of the adjacent
  landowners

25
Data Collection Score 8 -

• Calls for implementation of weather stations
• Calls for complete plant and animal inventories
• Calls for research into ungulate-habitat
  relationships
  
• Effectiveness of sware reflectors
• Comprehensive BMP mapping
• Habitat assessment
• Studies of highway ROW mortality

• Lack current data

26
Adaptive Management Score 7 -

• Provides for monitoring
• EMZ boundaries may be changed if necessary

• No mention of accountability
• No time scale to measure success on
• No mention of alternatives

27
Hierarchical Context Score 6 -

• Landscape level, takes into account adjacent
  landowners
  
• Ecosystems, EMZ based upon ecosystem boundaries
• Population, ungulate populations considered

• No mention of fine scale management, from stand
  level on down

28
Values Score 6 -

• Safety and recreation always considered
• Aesthetics important
• Education important

• No stakeholder input
• No mention of what recreation is allowed within
  park

29
Viable Populations Score 5 -

• Endangered Caribou and other ungulates (moose,
  elk, deer) receive considerable attention
  
• Lodgepole pine forests also accounted for

• No mention of other specific species within park
  or management for them
  
• No mention of using caribou as indicators

30
Monitoring Score 5 -

• MPB outbreaks
• Cleaning of ROW reflectors
• Redefinitions of BMP distributions, and hazard
  reassessments
  
• Mention of who should do what

• No clear section on monitoring
• Control of invasives?
• Indicator species?
• Species inventories after management?
• Maintanance of fire buffer strip?

31
Economic Feasibility and Sustainability
Score 2 -

• No mention other than costly ROW management and
  reflectors
  
• Mentions need for cost benefit analysis on ROW
  collissions

• No mention of costs, short term or long term

32
Stakeholder Consideration Score 2 -

• Protection and Aesthetics for recreationists

• No public meetings
• No mention of input from Alberta
• No mention of support/opposition from public

33
Summary

• The Mount Robson Provincial Park Management Plan
  very closely resembles an effective ecosystem
  management plan
  
• Ahead of its time for 1996
• Successfully satisfies most of Grumbines
  dominant themes for ecosystem management
  
• Did not address certain areas such as stakeholder
  input and economic feasibility
  
• Overall a very impressive plan that addresses
  most of the dominant themes of ecosystem
  management and meets with our approval.