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

Gold Canyon Resources Inc.
Springpole Gold Project
Road Alternatives Assessment
Table 3.5.2 Comparison of disturbance statistics between road options A and B for the Churchill
Caribou Range.
Criteria Option A Option B
Proposal Specific Statistics and Detail Sheet
Churchill Range Specific Disturbance Statistics (Disturbance State)
Beginning of 2011
Natural 82,745 ha 4% 82,745 ha 4%
Anthropogenic 733,978 ha 35% 733,978 ha 35%
All Disturbance 816,723 ha 38% 816,723 ha 38%
Range with Proposal
Natural 82,587 ha 4% 82,216 ha 4%
Anthropogenic 737,855 ha 35% 735,506 ha 35%
All Disturbance 820,443 ha 39% 817,722 ha 38%
Note: from the Cumulative Effects Assesment and Proposal Screening Report (CST-EOI-2012-0801-19/20)
2. Manage habitat amount within the Range by minimizing functional habitat loss (i.e. via habitat
change or conversion)
The conversion of caribou habitat to habitat which is more favourable to alternate prey (moose
or deer) is not likely to occur through the construction of a road corridor. Some caribou winter
habitat patches will be eliminated (discussed later in this document), but these areas will be
rehabilitated to their previous states upon closure. As previously mentioned, vegetation
management and regeneration planning will be developed in consultation with the OMNR.
Functional habitat loss, which results from the conversion of suitable habitat to non-suitable
habitat, will be minimized by keeping all disturbance footprints to a minimum. The overall level
of habitat that would be affected is relatively small compared to forest harvesting on crown land
and is therefore fairly insignificant at the range scale (as evidenced through the CST analysis).
The CST report showed winter habitat losses of 45 ha and 14 ha for Options A and B
respectively (Table 3.5.3), however, the CST report was unable to take the 2011 wildfire into
consideration in its analysis. Once the 2011 wildfire is taken into consideration the incremental
winter habitat loss is reduced to 21 ha for Option A and 13 ha for Option B. Table 3.5.4 presents
the amount, by patch size, of winter caribou habitat that would be directly affected through the
construction of each corridor option. Caribou winter habitat patches were modelled through the
OLT in order to determine the amount and arrangement of habitat patches in the following size
categories: 1-100 ha, 101-250 ha, 251-500 ha, 501-1000 ha, 1001-5000 ha, 5001-10,000 ha,
10,001-20,000 ha, and >20,000 ha (Figure 3.2). Habitat patches were modelled for the entire
Trout Lake Forest and for the RSA (Table 3.5.5 and 3.5.6). The OLT results indicate that the
amount of winter habitat patches within the Trout Lake Forest and the RSA are comparable.
The minimum patch size that is utilized by caribou is debatable; however, most studies indicate
that larger, more contiguous patches are preferred. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis,
the winter patches of 10,000 ha and greater were considered the highest quality patches within
the RSA. It is worth noting that the 2011 wildfire eliminated 31,508 ha (23.35%) of winter habitat