080121-08MN006-Sabina Hackett River Project Proposal ... - NIRB

Description of the Existing Environmentsnowmelt area south of the existing exploration camp. No plant species currently considered tobe “at risk” according to the compiled list were identified in the Project area.A total of 30 plant samples (15 Carex sp., 13 Salix sp., and 2 Eriophorum sp.) were collected andwill be used to characterize baseline plant tissue chemistry.Ongoing work includes development of the ecosystem map, field data entry and summaries, andthe completion of a baseline report summarizing the year’s activities. Field work scheduled for2008 will continue to focus on potential development areas, unique and interesting landscapefeatures, and will verify the ecosystem map. Additional collections of plant tissue for baselinechemistry characterization will also be made.6.2.3 Terrestrial Mammals2007 was the first year of site-specific terrestrial vertebrate studies in the Hackett River Projectarea. Details of the 2007 wildlife work will be compiled into a baseline report (Rescan 2008d).However, historical information is available for areas outside of the immediate Hackett Riverarea, mainly from work that has been done as part of BIPR (Rescan 2007a, b, d). These otherstudies provide useful supplemental information on a regional basis.Longer term wildlife surveys have also been conducted in the region since at least the 1970s.Previous wildlife surveys have included descriptions and mapping of wildlife habitats,inventories of wildlife sightings and signs (e.g., tracks, scat) collected during ground andhelicopter reconnaissance trips, government radio-collar data, academic research projects andother historical work. Existing data sources from historical studies include:• Canadian Endangered Species Conservation Council (CESCC) Status Reports;• Committee on the Status of Endangered Species in Canada (COSEWIC) Assessment andStatus Reports;• Published literature on general ecology and population dynamics of wildlife species inthe area (e.g., McLoughlin et al. 2002; denning ecology of Barren ground grizzly bear);• Satellite collar data from Bathurst caribou (West Kitikmeot/Slave Study (WKSS));• Satellite-collar data from wolf studies (Walton et al., 2001); and• Satellite-collar data from barren-ground grizzly bears (Government of the NorthwestTerritories Department of Environment and Natural Resources (GNWT ENR, WKSS).Inuit Traditional Knowledge is also available for the general region from the following sources:Zinifex, 2007, Thorpe et al., 2001, Keith et al., 2005 and Rescan, 2007c. Due to work conductedin 2001, 2002 and 2007 for the BIPR project, locations of mammal dens and raptor cliff nests arealso available within a 5 km buffer zone on either side of the BIPR road and around the Port(Rescan, 2007a, b). Variable range point counts were also conducted within 1 km on either sideof the BIPR road and a waterfowl survey was conducted in 2007 for the BIPR project (Rescan,2007b), both of which can be used in order to characterize the fauna occurring in the RegionalStudy Area (RSA) for the Hackett project.January 2008 Hackett River Project – Project Proposal Sabina Silver CorporationReport Version B.1 6–30 Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (Proj. #833-2)