Recovery Strategy for the Ermine, haidarum subspecies (Mustela erminea haidarum), in Canada [Proposed] 2011

Photo of Haida Ermine
Photo of Haida Ermine
Parks Canada Agency. 2011. Recovery Strategy for the Ermine, haidarum subspecies ( Mustela erminea haidarum ), in Canada [Proposed]. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Parks Canada Agency. Ottawa iv + 3 pp + Appendices.

For copies of the recovery strategy, or for additional information on species at risk, including COSEWIC Status Reports, residence descriptions, action plans, and other related recovery documents, please visit the Species at Risk Public Registry (www.sararegistry.gc.ca).

Cover illustration: Janet Gifford-Brown

Également disponible en français sous le titre
« Programme de rétablissement de l'hermine de la sous espèce haidarum (Mustela ermine haidarum) au Canada
» © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of the Environment, Year. All rights reserved.
ISBN ISBN no. to come
Catalogue no. Catalogue no. to come

Content (excluding the illustrations) may be used without permission, with appropriate credit to the source.

The Parks Canada Agency led the development of this federal recovery strategy, working together with the other competent minister(s) for this species under the Species at Risk Act. The Chief Executive Officer, upon recommendation of the Field Unit Superintendent, hereby approves this document indicating that Species at Risk Act requirements related to recovery strategy development (sections 37-42) have been fulfilled in accordance with the Act.

Recommended by:

Ernie Gladstone
Field Unit Superintendent, Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve

Approved by:

Alan Latourelle
Chief Executive Officer, Parks Canada

All competent ministers have approved posting of this recovery strategy on the Species at Risk Public Registry.

The federal, provincial, and territorial government signatories under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1996) agreed to establish complementary legislation and programs that provide for effective protection of species at risk throughout Canada.

In the spirit of cooperation of the Accord, the Government of British Columbia has provided the "Recovery Strategy for the Ermine, haidarum subspecies (Mustela erminea haidarum), in British Columbia" to the Government of Canada. The federal Minister of the Environment as the competent minister under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) adopts or incorporates, in whole or in part, this recovery strategy pursuant to section 44 of the Act, with any exceptions or modifications as detailed within the body of this document.

The finalized recovery strategy, once included in the Species at Risk Public Registry, will be the SARA recovery strategy for this species.

The federal Minister of the Environment’s recovery strategy for the Ermine haidarum subspecies consists of two parts:

  1. The "Recovery Strategy for the Ermine, haidarum subspecies (Mustela erminea haidarum), in British Columbia" being adopted/ incorporated, developed by the Ermine, haidarum subspecies, Recovery Team for the Province of British Columbia (Appendix 2).
  2. The federal text which completes the existing recovery strategy in terms of meeting the requirements of SARA section 41. This text includes additions, exceptions or modifications to the document being adopted or incorporated, in whole or in part.

The federal, provincial, and territorial government signatories under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1996) agreed to establish complementary legislation and programs that provide for effective protection of species at risk throughout Canada. Under the Species at Risk Act (S.C. 2002, c.29) (SARA) the federal competent ministers are responsible for the preparation of recovery strategies for listed Extirpated, Endangered, and Threatened species and are required to report on progress within five years.

The Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency and the Minister of Environment are the competent ministers for the recovery of the Ermine, haidarum subspecies, and have prepared this strategy, as required by section 37 of SARA. It has been prepared in cooperation with the Province of British Columbia, the Haida Nation, environmental non-governmental organizations and local industrial groups, as per section 39(1) of SARA.

Success in the recovery of this species depends on the commitment and cooperation of many different constituencies that will be involved in implementing the directions set out in this strategy and will not be achieved by Environment Canada, the Parks Canada Agency, or any other jurisdiction alone. All Canadians are invited to join in supporting and implementing this strategy for the benefit of the Ermine, haidarum subspecies, and Canadian society as a whole.

This recovery strategy will be followed by one or more action plans that will provide information on recovery measures to be taken by Environment Canada and the Parks Canada Agency and other jurisdictions and/or organizations involved in the conservation of the species. Implementation of this strategy is subject to appropriations, priorities, and budgetary constraints of the participating jurisdictions and organizations.

The federal supplementary material to the Province of British Columbia’s Recovery Strategy for the Ermine, haidarum subspecies (Mustela erminea haidarum), in British Columbia was completed by Ross Vennesland, with assistance from Carita Bergman, Diane Casimir, Richard Pither, Pippa Shepherd, Kara Vlasman, Leah Westereng and Berry Wijdeven.

This federal Recovery Strategy for the Ermine, haidarum subspecies (Mustela ermine haidarum), in Canada has been produced based upon the Province of British Columbia’s Recovery Strategy for Ermine haidarum subspecies (Mustela ermine haidarum) in British Columbia. The federal text includes information to bring the Province of British Columbia’s recovery strategy into compliance with policies surrounding the Species at Risk Act. These changes include clarifications on the recovery goal and objectives, critical habitat and socio-economic considerations.

This section modifies information in the Recovery Strategy for Ermine haidarum subspecies (Mustela ermine haidarum), in British Columbia (Appendix 2).

The long term goal of the Province of British Columbia’s recovery strategy (to maintain or restore a self-sustaining, wild population of Ermine haidarum across its historical range) is considered as the population and distribution objective of this federal recovery strategy (to be met by 2036). Each recovery objective should be addressed by 2016.

This section addresses specific requirements of SARA that are not addressed in the Recovery Strategy for Ermine haidarum subspecies (Mustela ermine haidarum), in British Columbia (Appendix 2).

As required by SARA (section 41(1)), a recovery strategy must include an identification of the species’ critical habitat, to the extent possible, based on the best available information. Examples of activities that are likely to result in its destruction must also be included. Critical habitat cannot be identified at this time due to a lack of information on life history, population ecology, distribution, and habitat requirements, mostly due to an inability to successfully capture individuals of the species during scientific studies supporting ermine recovery.

Biologists working to support ermine recovery from 1992 to 1997 conducted more than 6,700 trap nights of effort and only caught two ermine (Reid et al. 2000). Extensive snow tracking and track plate work in 1997 and 1998 failed to return any sign of ermine (Reid et al. 2000). Efforts from 2004 to 2010 have also met with an almost complete lack of success (Burles et al. 2008, Wijdeven, unpubl. data). Consequently, there is not enough information to identify critical habitat for the species on Haida Gwaii. Because of this general lack of success in capturing the species during scientific studies, knowledge of its habitat requirements is limited to the following parameters. Ermine appear to be rare on the landscape and are habitat generalists using forested habitat of any age on the east side of the archipelago that is near water sources and has good ground cover. No research is available or has been initiated to complete a critical habitat identification based on this information. A very broad identification of critical habitat could be completed based on this information (e.g., using areas near watercourses within the Coastal Western Hemlock, Submontane Wet Hypermaritime biogeoclimatic subzone; CWHwh1), but is not justified for the following reasons. The identification would cover a large geographic area (most of the east side of the archipelago) and would contain significant amounts of unoccupied habitat and/or habitat not important to recovery.

From the period 1922 to 1997, Reid et al. (2000) compiled 121 captures, sightings or track observations. However, for several reasons these data are not suitable for use in identifying critical habitat. This species is a habitat generalist with large home ranges, so the immediate area around a sighting or capture will be a very small proportion of the range of that individual. Many of these observations are old and we thus have little confidence the habitat that was once present is still present or that the site is still occupied. The vast majority of the locations were not reported using modern mapping techniques and almost all have been found to be inaccurate and/or not compatible with current mapping information (e.g., current mapping shows them far from water when they were reported to be near to water). Many of the observations have been made by people who are not experts in the field, so could represent misidentifications. And finally, most observations have been along roads and thus may not represent habitat that is critical or even appropriate for the species.

In cases such as this where available information is inadequate to identify critical habitat, SARA requires that a schedule of studies be included in the recovery strategy. A schedule of studies has been developed in the Recovery Strategy for Ermine haidarum subspecies (Mustela ermine haidarum) in British Columbia (see page 16, Schedule of studies needed to identify critical habitat; Appendix 2), consisting of one activity – to continue efforts to find a reliable inventory method for scientific studies. This federal recovery strategy expands on the schedule of studies with the following table.

Table 1. Schedule of studies to identify critical habitat for Ermine, haidarum subspecies, in Canada.
Description of activity Outcome Timeline
Continue to develop survey methods to inventory the species and develop habitat associations (e.g., using motion detection devises or scat sniffing dogs)

Ability to capture the species and gain objective information on habitat use

2012

If a survey method can be developed to inventory the species:

Apply inventory method across the landscape to determine habitat use in different habitats

Objective habitat data can be used to identify critical habitat Pending
Map critical habitats for formal identification Formal critical habitat identification Pending

The section in the Recovery Strategy for Ermine haidarum subspecies (Mustela ermine haidarum) in British Columbia (Appendix 2) entitled Socioeconomic Considerations is not considered part of the federal Minister of Environment's recovery strategy for this species.

The Province of British Columbia’s Recovery Strategy for Ermine haidarum subspecies (Mustela ermine haidarum) in British Columbia includes a section entitled, “Socio-economic Considerations.” Although the strategy indicates that socio-economic impacts are not expected to be extensive, a formal evaluation of the socio-economic costs and benefits of recovery implementation has not yet been conducted, but will be included in one or more action plan(s) as required by SARA (section 49(e)). For this reason, and because a socio-economic analysis is not required in a recovery strategy under Section 41(1) of SARA, the “Socio-economic Considerations” section of this adopted recovery strategy is not considered part of the federal Minister of Environment's recovery strategy for this species.

Burles, D.W., J. Stuart-Smith, B. Wijdeven, D.W. Nagorsen and T. Husband 2008. Summary of research activities related to the recovery of Haida ermine, Mustela erminea haidarum, on Haida Gwaii. Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site Technical Report. 55pp.

Reid, D.G., L. Waterhouse, P.E.F Buck, A.E. Derocher, R. Bettner and C.D. French. 2000. Inventory of the Queen Charlotte Islands ermine. Pp. 393-406 in L.M.Darling, editor. Proceedings of a conference on the biology and management of species and habitats at risk. B.C. Ministry of Environment, Lands & Parks, Victoria, BC and University College of the Cariboo, Kamloops, BC.

A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is conducted on all SARA recovery planning documents, in accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals. The purpose of a SEA is to incorporate environmental considerations into the development of public policies, plans, and program proposals to support environmentally sound decision-making.

Recovery planning is intended to benefit species at risk and biodiversity in general. However, it is recognized that strategies may also inadvertently lead to environmental effects beyond the intended benefits. The planning process based on national guidelines directly incorporates consideration of all environmental effects, with a particular focus on possible impacts upon non-target species or habitats. The results of the SEA are incorporated directly into the strategy itself, but are also summarized below in this statement.

This recovery strategy will clearly benefit the environment by promoting the recovery of the Ermine, haidarum subspecies (Mustela ermine haidarum), through addressing knowledge gaps associated with species density, distribution, population size, and critical habitat. As well, trials to restore / create habitat form part of the recovery strategy, as does outreach and education. Finally, the need for population augmentation will be assessed.

The SEA concluded that this recovery strategy would have several positive effects and not cause any important negative effects. Further project-specific environmental assessments of actions identified as a result of research conducted in this recovery strategy, may be required.

The potential for important negative effects from this recovery strategy on other species or ecological processes is negligible.

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