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Public Advisory Panel on Caribou Guidelines
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources - Northwest
Region
The range of woodland caribou in Ontario has
been severely restricted by development of the land base; forest
operations continue to expand northward and there is concern for
the status of the caribou herd in Ontario. In response to this concern,
the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) Caribou Task Team
developed a set of guidelines for the conduct of forest harvest
and renewal in the areas inhabited by caribou, and held the required
public consultations. Response to the guidelines was mixed, and
some substantive concerns were raised.
ESSA was retained to convene a public advisory
panel tasked with providing advice to the OMNR regarding the public's
concerns over the guidelines, and to develop a broader strategy
for the protection of caribou in northwestern Ontario. To this end,
ESSA facilitated a series of four two-day panel meetings to clarify
issues related to the guidelines and to develop consensus on a strategy
for an approach to caribou management. The final report of the panel
was prepared by ESSA, in conjunction with Dr. P. Duinker (then)
of Lakehead University; it provides specific recommendations including
a six-point strategy for implementing caribou management and detailed
recommendations for revision of the OMNR guidelines.
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