Skógræktarritið - 15.05.2001, Side 117

Figure 3. Researchers with
a sedated grizzl
ment; advancing applied science;
and promoting awareness and
involvement. There is ongoing
research with wildlife and habi-
tat, particularly for certain
species such as Grizzly, Moose,
Elk and Stone Sheep (Figure 3).
Management Challenges in the
M-KMA
There are numerous challenges
in attempting to effectively man-
age the M-KMA. The most obvi-
ous one is the sheer size of the
area at 6.3 million hectares.
Access is extremely limited (also
as directed by the LRMPs) with
only a few roads, and trails that
are accessed by horseback, snow-
mobile or all terrain vehicles.
Government staff make extensive
use of helicopter and jet-boat
transport.
Along with the extreme dis-
tances are the extremes in tem-
perature, with seasonal fluctua-
tions of 80°C not uncommon. At
- 40°, equipment is subject to
heavy wear and it is trying on the
staff as well, particularly when
dealing with problems. All staff
have emergency survival gear in
our vehicles. I have personally
experienced accidentaily driving
off a remote logging road with
temperatures reaching -43°. It
was quite a worrying experience
and has increased my awareness
of the challenges of the northern
continental climate.
Another management chal-
lenge is the long distance
(approximately 1,300 km by road,
two hours by air) from the
provincial capital for many of the
senior government executives
ultimately responsible for the
success of the M-KMA. Extra care
has to be taken to keep the
'southern' managers up to speed
on the issues and actions being
taken by the 'northern' statutory
decision-makers. This can be
frustrating for both 'southerners'
who are more aware of the
machinations within the legisla-
ture and the 'northerners' who
are more aware of the local situa-
tion.
There is growing public aware-
ness and level of expectations
about what 'could' or ‘should'
occur within the M-KMA. It is dif-
ficult to ensure that everything
that is planned, or simply decid-
ed upon at a political ievel, is
effectively implemented. The M-
KMA, being a new approach to
planning and management,
demands that the government
staff, board members and public
participants in the planning
process attempt to address chal-
lenges with a set of 'fresh eyes'
and often innovative approaches.
The final, and potentially great-
est challenge, revolves around
land claims based on both past
and future treaties with First
Nations. Planning and manage-
ment is underway without any
future certainty as to what lands
may be awarded in the north and
particularly in the Muskwa-
Kechika Management Area.
Lessons learnt to date
There have been five major
lessons learnt to date from the
M-KMA initiative. The first lesson
involves the need of obtaining
adequate data and knowledge
about the land, stemming not
only from the 6.3 million ha size
but also from the tremendous
biodiversity, differences in
physio-geography and the chal-
lenges of access to the area.
The second lesson is related to
the first, but centres around the
challenges of accurate and timely
analysis and decision making.
This involves a number of com-
ponents including translating
field data into a Geographic
Information System (GIS), and
devising adequate tools to verify,
correct, analyse, manipulate and
map the output. GIS staff are in
high demand from both the gov-
ernment and private sectors, and
we have lost a number of high
quality staff as a result of this.
The third lesson is to obtain
adequate funding for travel, suffi-
cient staffing and equipment and
resources to effectively manage
the area, and to be able to proac-
tively address anticipated devel-
opments, such as oil and gas
development continuing to
SKÓGRÆKTARRITIÐ 2001 l.tbl.
115