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“They are basically shunting all harvest to the edge of the ranges.”

Hebblewhite said it’s the most comprehensive step forward for caribou that he’s ever seen in Alberta, but he noted that it could all be for nothing if oil and gas tears it all up.

“It was a little disappointing for me, scientifically, to see not as strong language in the A La Peche and Little Smoky plans for restricting energy development in the core critical habitat for caribou,” he said, suggesting that’s a weakness in the plan.

In addition, he said the plan to “create a little zoo” in the middle of the range to raise caribou is flawed.

“There are significant effects of that on the wild caribou,” said Hebblewhite. “There are issues of how are you going to release these semi-domestic caribou after a generation back into the wild, and what is the habitat management in that area?

“It’s just not well thought out. It’s coming from one scientist and it’s not a consensus scientific approach.”

Phillips said the fenced caribou rearing area is a recommendation based on scientific advice.

“We have a really fragmented landscape in that area,” she said. “We need to be able to restore those legacy seismic lines, and trees take the time they take to grow.

“If we are going to be serious about that, and not lose the remaining caribou, we had to take this kind of approach.”

Phillips said, however, that there’s an expert committee guiding the process so they will change their approach if there’s evidence it’s not working to restore the species.

Woodland caribou are considered an indicator of a healthy boreal forest. They are a threatened species both provincially and federally, declining rapidly to about 3,500 across Alberta — mostly due to energy and forestry development.

Under the federal Species At Risk Act, the province must preserve 65 per cent of critical caribou habitat by October 2017.

The draft caribou range plan for Little Smoky and A La Peche is open for public input online until Aug. 5.

cderworiz@postmedia.com

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