The Interior News article (February 5, 2020, Page A11, “Retired ecosystems biologist raises concerns about proposed Telkwa coal mine’s impact on caribou”) regarding concerns about potential impacts that the proposed Telkwa Coal mine may have on Telkwa caribou was informative. I would like to raise some additional comments for the readership.
A consulting biologist for Allegiance (Telkwa Coal) stated that he was not aware of any acoustic disturbance studies yet initiated. It is reported that Angela Waterman (Telkwa Coal Environment & Government Relations Director) stated that this will be under the purview of the pre-application process of environmental assessment. The point being is that Allegiance has yet to conduct such a study despite a couple of public open houses that presented studies to date including conceptual project design, and public comment .
It is reported that Angela raised the possibility that the coal mine development could actually benefit the herd. Given the limited habitat currently in place, any further habitat reduction will not be beneficial to the Telkwa caribou, period. If we start treating the caribou like captive zoo animals via putting dollars into maternal penning, predator reduction and winter supplementary feeding, then yes the Telkwa Caribou population could benefit, but is that the way we want to manage our ecologies? This is what is partially implied by Angela’s comments. Regarding habitat restoration, yes this would be beneficial and an infusion of cash from industrial developments such as a coal mine or LNG energy corridor in the Telkwa Caribou Recovery Area could make this a reality, but over what remaining already fragmented habitat?
Len Vanderstar, R.P.Bio
