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

Identification of Potential EnvironmentalEffects and Proposed Mitigationand the extent of these daily movements defines the seasonal home ranges of these species.Some species have a single home range all year, while others have separate summer and winterhome ranges. Long-range wildlife movements typically occur between winter and summerranges, or when young disperse to new territories. When one habitat cannot support a species invarious seasons (i.e., winter and summer), moving between seasonal ranges is critical forsurvival. Similarly, dispersal (movement away from birthplace) is critical for the maintenance ofmany populations and young will disperse distances that can be many times as large as thespecies’ home range. Typically, the greatest potential effects to wildlife populations occur as aresult of disruption, blockage and impediments to these seasonal and dispersal movements.Roads typically have a larger potential to affect wildlife movements compared to mines, whichare relatively small and localized.The Project component with the greatest potential to effect wildlife movement is the 23 kmaccess road between the mine site and the BIPR road. Sabina will be the only user of the accessroad. The northern 80 km of the proposed BIPR road would be used to transport concentrate andgoods to and from the port, and Sabina would be one of multiple users of the BIPR road. Trafficon the 80 km northern section of the BIPR road would be extended from 4 months (proposedBIPR Project road usage; January 1 to April 30) to approximately 12 months as part of theHackett River Project.The mine, 23 km access road and added traffic on a portion of the BIPR road may create threepotential issues for wildlife: (1) creation of a barrier that wildlife will not or cannot cross, (2)avoidance of habitats adjacent to roads as a result of traffic, noise and human presence and (3)mortality as a result of vehicle-wildlife interactions (Forman and Deblinger, 2000) or due toincreased human access for hunting (Jalkotzy et al., 1997; Jackson, 2000). Each of these effectsare inter-related, particularly 1 and 2, as avoidance can create the “barrier”. The Hackett RiverProject footprint itself will likely have a relatively small effect on animal movement compared tothe haul road and BIPR road/port.Movement patterns of mammals such as Bathurst, Ahiak, and Dolphin and Union caribou,muskox and carnivores could potentially be affected by the Project. Sabina is committed todeveloping robust wildlife monitoring plans and road management plans to avoid or minimizethis potential effect. Movement patterns of raptors, songbirds and waterfowl are not expected tobe altered due to the Project infrastructure itself; however, lights emanating from the project mayattract birds and alter their movement patterns (discussed in attractants section).Disturbance to Normal Wildlife Behaviours: The responses of wildlife to human presence andactivities vary by species. Some species become acclimated, some react to each disturbance butremain in the area and others avoid areas with frequent disturbances. Animals may react todisturbance by avoiding important habitats and/or by taking time away from key behaviours suchas feeding, breeding or watching for predators. These reactions can ultimately lead to reducedreproductive productivity and/or mortality.Construction activities, particularly vegetation clearing, site levelling and blasting, will result indisturbance to wildlife. The potential for, as well as the significance of, disturbance effects dueto construction would depend on the timing of construction relative to sensitive periods (e.g.,January 2008 Hackett River Project – Project Proposal Sabina Silver CorporationReport Version B.1 7–18 Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (Proj. #833-2)