Scientists Respond to FPAC Claims on Federal Boreal Caribou Recovery Strategy Science
September 22, 2017
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Leading caribou scientists comment on recent public claims made by the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC)
Highlights from the scientists’ letter include:
The process for [caribou] recovery has already been subject to considerable delay.
Much experience and empirical evidence demonstrates that delay results in a lower likelihood of recovery, typically at a greater monetary cost.
There are no research results that refute the scientific foundation of the recovery strategy or point to an alternative pathway from managing disturbance levels within ranges as the best insurance against population decline and extirpation. On the contrary – there is high agreement among studies on the effects of disturbance on caribou.
With respect to forest management, sustainability means ensuring the survival of all species and maintenance of other forest values, as well as providing timber for present and future generations. While the industry may be doing well on the latter, the former has clearly become an issue for caribou. Further, in some places it is the cumulative disturbance (i.e., footprint of all industrial activity) that is the issue, not forestry alone.
