2007 news releases

Jan 05 2007
Bridging the gulf for wildlife

BC Hydro is funding a study that is a twist on the age-old question “Why did the chicken cross the road?” According to study coordinator Joe Materi of Ursus Environmental, “the questions we’re trying to answer are more like: how many, how frequently, and what kind of chickens are crossing the road.”

For decades, there has a been a concern that the 2.5 km long Salmon River Diversion Canal, which draws some water out of the Salmon River and eventually runs it through the Ladore and John Hart Dams, may be impacting wildlife movements. The area contains a patchwork of wetlands and forests, and supports healthy populations of Roosevelt elk, deer, bears, cougars, and other forest mammals. The steep-walled concrete canal, constructed in the late 1950’s, is slippery much of the year and once in the canal, most forest-adapted wildlife would have difficult time getting out. Materi says, “I once saw a two bull elk in the canal in mid-summer, they ran down the canal rather than try scaling the dry side-walls.”
Sharing similar concerns, the Campbell River District Fish and Wildlife Association had earlier helped install a number of “wildlife ladders” along the canal.

The creation of BC Hydro’s Bridge Coastal Fish & Wildlife Restoration Program (BCRP) in 2001 provided a funding mechanism for wildlife studies relating to the impact of the diversion canal. The first phase of the study ran from 2002 to 2004. It involved constructing a simple wooden overpass for wildlife out of sight of the two existing BC Hydro maintenance bridges. It was monitored with remote cameras for two years.

“We were initially interested in seeing just how quickly wildlife would discover and use a brand new crossing location,” Materi says. Not very long, it turned out. Materi’s study found cougars, deer, and marten found and used the structure in the first winter; bears and elk followed that summer. Within the first year, 54 wildlife crossings were recorded, with three-quarters of all animals approaching the overpass eventually using it – a high level of acceptance. Nine different species of forest mammals used the structure within 18 months of its installation. The second phase of the remote camera study started in April of 2006, and winds up in March of 2007. It will be comparing wildlife use at all four existing crossings of the diversion canal.

The researchers at Ursus are hoping the data will help determine if some structures are more attractive to wildlife than others, and if so provide some clues as to why. Materi hopes the study will also help BC Hydro determine if any additional crossing structures should be considered to meet the needs of wildlife in the region.
Since the second phase of the study began a total of 91 wildlife crossings, representing eight different species, have been recorded at the four crossing structures. To date, bridges in the central and western parts of the study area appear to be used more frequently than the easternmost bridge.

Detailed findings should be available on the BCRP website (www.bchydro.com/bcrp) in April of 2007.