Resource Type
This report addresses the lack of guidance from the federal recovery strategies for woodland caribou on when suitable habitat, after being disturbed by anthropogenic activities such as forest harvesting, should once again be considered "undisturbed," for the purposes of caribou recovery planning. In the absence of federal direction, Alberta has adopted a 40-year threshold for considering caribou habitat undisturbed, but the adequacy of this metric is not fully known. As management efforts increasingly turn to actions designed to restore the functioning of caribou ranges, there is a need to further define restoration endpoints to clarify objectives and measure progress.