Can B.C. Help Save Endangered Caribou?

With some isolated herds down to only a handful of animals, the government has been under pressure to come up with a plan that would restore all 18 herds in B.C. But after years of dialogue and research, it has come up with a plan that has immediately drawn attack for failing to set aside substantial areas of forest from development, and for pushing predator control -- a hot button for environmentalists. The plan, prepared by a team of advisers that spent two years studying the plight of mountain caribou, calls for the killing of cougars, wolves and black bears in areas where herds are in serious decline. Grizzly bears and wolverines could be added to the predator-control list if more culling is needed, the plan says. The strategy also calls for the "removal of other ungulates such as deer and moose" from areas where they are competing with caribou, and for the augmentation of some smaller herds by transplanting animals from larger herds. Restrictions on logging, and on wilderness activities such as heli-skiing and snowmobiling in key winter habitat areas, are also recommended. www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061025BCCARIBOU/TPstory

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