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

Gold Canyon Resources Inc.
Springpole Gold Project
Road Alternatives Assessment
habitat is questionable based on the fact that a large fire burned this area in 2011. According to
the caribou collar data, none of the collared caribou used this area during late winter, but some
animals did use the fringe of the burned area in early winter following the fire of 2011. At least
four of the collared animals congregated in a wintering area between Okanse Lake and Perrigo
Lake. Caribou also spent late winter east of Fawcett Lake and west of Snelgrove Lake. The
construction of road Option A is not expected to have any negative environmental effect on any
of these late wintering areas.
Spring
During the spring season, the collared caribou disbursed throughout the study area and were
found in a wide variety of habitat types including the area burned in 2011. Of the collared
animals in the study area, 3 were located in close proximity (5 km) to the proposed road Option
A. One collared animal was found in the Dead Dog Lake area, another on the north and south
shores of the eastern end of Springpole arm, and a third animal was found between Springpole
Lake and Dole Lake near the Springpole camp.
The construction of Road Option A could negatively affect caribou in two ways; through sensory
disturbance; and increased predation risk. Sensory disturbance will be mitigated by enforcing
strict timing restrictions on the use of the road during the spring period. For the most part, traffic
will be eliminated during spring, with the exception of medical or other emergency use.
Predation by wolves and black bears is considered to be the proximate cause of caribou
mortality, particularly on calves (Lambert et al. 2006), with the majority of mortality events
occurring in late winter. In order to reduce predation risk to caribou, alternate prey populations in
the area need to be kept to a minimum. Wolves are known to be moose specialists, taking
caribou opportunistically, therefore, by reducing favourable habitat for moose in an area, the
likelihood of increased predation risk for caribou should be lowered. Moose populations will be
kept to a minimum by reducing the amount of area converted to early successional vegetation
and developing a vegetation management plan for the road corridor in consultation with the
OMNR.
Calving/Post-calving
Caribou calving and post-calving seasons are considered critical times for caribou as calves can
be highly susceptible to predation and maternal females can exhibit a lower tolerance for
disturbance than other times of the year. The caribou collar data for the study area clearly
shows animals disbursing from each other and spacing out during calving. With regard to the
proposed road corridor (Option A), two collared animals spent the calving season in close
proximity, with one female splitting the calving season between Dead Dog Lake and Fawcett
Lake, and another female spending the calving season on the south and north shores of the
eastern arm of Springpole Lake.
Long-term, objective studies of the effects of development on calving caribou are rare due to the
difficulty of obtaining data, costs and long timelines required to fully understand potential effects.
In one study of a caribou calving ground in Alaska (Dau and Cameron 1986), the number of