2007 Annual Report - Institute for Environmental Monitoring and ...

P a g e 1 0 I n s t i t u t e f o r E n v i r o n m e n t a l M o n i t o r i n g a n d R e s e a r c h 2 0 0 7 A n n u a l R e p o r tStatus:• The government of Newfoundland and Labrador,in collaboration with the Institute, will conduct asecond late winter/early spring density, distributionand population estimate survey in 2008.• The Institute will consider installing additionalcollars on the Joir River animals following theanalysis of the field survey by the Wildlife Divisionof the government of Newfoundland and Labrador.• The Institute continues to explore with theMinistère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faunedu Québec the feasibility of conducting a survey inthe Quebec portion of training block CYA 733 of themilitary training area (MTA) in 2008-2009.• The SRC will review the results from the fieldstudies and provide guidance to the Institute’sBoard for future monitoring initiatives on the JRC.Lac Joseph Caribou Herd (LJCH)There are eleven satellite collars and two VHF collarson the LJCH. The government of Newfoundland andLabrador, in partnership with the Institute, willcontinue to collect and compile data collected by thesatellite collars currently deployed on this herd. TheInstitute is exploring with the Ministère desRessources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec thefeasibility of conducting a winter survey on theQuebec range of the LJCH in 2008-2009.Status:• The government of Newfoundland and Labradorconducted a classification survey of the LJCH earlyin 2007.• The Institute, in collaboration with the WildlifeDivision of the government of Newfoundland andLabrador, will be replacing the current VHF andexisting Argos collars with GPS-satellite hybridcollars as they reach the end of their reportingschedule.• The government of Newfoundland and Labrador,in collaboration with the Institute, will conduct asecond late winter classification of the LJCH earlyin 2008.• The SRC will review the results from the fieldstudies and provide guidance to the Institute’sBoard for future monitoring initiatives on the LJCH.George River Caribou Herd(GRCH)As of March 31, 2006, with the expiration of the MOUwith the Allies, DND terminated its fundingagreement with the governments of Quebec andNewfoundland and Labrador for continuedmonitoring of the GRCH. Following a review of theinformation required, the Institute agreed to enterinto contractual arrangements with both governmentsto ensure a continuation of the monitoringinitiatives associated with the George River Herd.Status:• Given the reduction in military training and thetermination of funding by DND to the governmentsof Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, theInstitute conducted a feasibility analysis on thecontinued collection of data on the GRCH.• The Institute agreed to fund the cost of processingthe Argos data by CLS America to the governmentof Quebec for the duration of the current mandateof the Institute. In return, the government ofQuebec provides data to the Institute fromtwenty-five Argos collars.• The government of Newfoundland and Labrador iscurrently providing data to the Institute from fourcollars on the GRCH and are exploring thepossibility of providing the Institute with data fromten collars in 2008. The Institute has agreed toprovide funding to the government ofNewfoundland and Labrador once they providedata for ten collars.• Following a review of the data, the SRC will providea recommendation on future data collection for theGRCH.• The Institute purchased three GPS-satellite hybridcollars, which were deployed on the GRCH by theWildlife Division of the government ofNewfoundland and Labrador in 2007.HABITAT DATABlack DuckThe need for relevant habitat data has been identifiedas a priority for many Institute sponsored projects.The Institute continues to acquire high-resolutionIkonos imagery datasets for portions of the LLTA.Due to extensive cloud coverage during the 2007collection period, this dataset was not enhanced in2007. This order has been carried over for 2008 atwhich time the Institute plans to obtain Ikonosimagery for the core area of the RWMCH.Status:• The Institute will continue to acquire additionalIkonos imagery in 2008 to cover the range ofwoodland caribou, particularly the RWMCH.