Revised Final Environmental Study Report (24 MB) - Gold Canyon ...

Gold Canyon Resources Inc.
Springpole Gold Project
Road Alternatives Assessment
2.0 Description of the Existing Environment
Terrestrial Environment
The Springpole Lake RSA lies within the Trout Lake Forest Management Unit (FMU) in
northwestern Ontario. The Trout Lake FMU falls within the boundaries of the Wabigoon
Ecoregion (Figure 2.1). The area is located on the Precambrian Shield and the bedrock in the
area is primarily granitic and gneissic. The landscape of the ecoregion is a gently sloping plain
of shallow sandy and loamy tills over bedrock in conjunction with eskers and moraine ridges.
Coniferous cover dominates the landscape (30%) in addition to sparse forest (23.5%), water
(14.8 %), mixed forest (10.2 %), and treed bogs (4.3 %). Due to shallow substrates and
periodically dry climate, the area is subjected to intense and frequent fire cycles. Upland
coniferous fires cycles range from 50 to 187 years and tend to be stand replacing. Mixed stand
fire cycles tend to occur between 63 and 210 years with variable intensities (Crins et al 2009).
The Wabigoon Ecoregion is located in Rowe’s (1972) Northern Coniferous Forest Section of the
Boreal Forest Region. Upland sites tend to be occupied by jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and
black spruce (Picea mariana), with mixtures of white spruce (Picea glauca) and balsam fir
(Abies balsamea), depending on stand age. Dry sites often support open jack pine lichen
complexes, which are an integral component of woodland caribou habitat. White birch (Betula
papyrifera) or trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) can be found in conifer dominated mixedwood
stands. Lowlands are comprised of bog or fen complexes, while treed lowlands are
dominated by black spruce or tamarack (Larix laricinea) (Crins et al 2009).
The Trout Lake FMU is located within the Red Lake District, in the Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources (OMNR) Northwest Region. Domtar Pulp and Paper Products Inc. is the Sustainable
Forest License (SFL) holder and as such, are responsible for all forest management planning,
harvesting, reforestation and monitoring within the FMU. Two provincial parks occur adjacent to
or within the Trout Lake Forest including Pakwash Provincial Park, located adjacent to the
southwest corner of the unit, and Trout Lake Provincial Nature Reserve, located in the
northwest portion of the unit. The FMU also contains 7 conservation reserves including Trout
Lake, Gull-Christina, Brokenmouth River, Harth Lake, Bruce Lake, Lac Seul Islands and
Whitemud.
The land-base of the Trout Lake Forest has been classified into ecosites according to the
Terrestrial and Wetland Ecosites of Northwestern Ontario. An ecosite is primarily a mapping unit
based on a consistent set of soil and vegetative characteristics. Ecosite classification is, in large
part, done from photo interpretation and the aid of a limited field sub-sample. In 2009 the OMNR
refined their ecosite concepts with the release of Ecosites of Ontario (OMNR 2009c), which
replaced previous ecosite classification manuals. Ecosites in the study area have been
classified using this new Provincial Ecosite classification system (OMNR 2009c).
Provincial Ecosite B049 is the most common ecosite in the forest (38% of stands). Provincial
Ecosite B049 is considered dry to fresh, with well drained sandy or coarse loamy soils
dominated by black spruce and jack pine with limited hardwood cover. Provincial Ecosite B052
covers 13% of the forest and is characterized by fresh, coarse loamy soil supporting stands