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

Gold Canyon Resources Inc.
Springpole Gold Project
Road Alternatives Assessment
Wolverine
Environmental Effects
Wolverine are currently listed as Threatened in Ontario. The range retraction of this species
throughout Ontario has been attributed to anthropogenic disturbances such as forest harvesting.
Wolverine are known to depend heavily on scavenging caribou carcasses, primarily in winter.
Therefore, as caribou populations decline, so do wolverine populations.
Wolverine are known to inhabit the forests of the study area. During an aerial survey of the
study area in 2011 a set of wolverine tracks were found on Springpole Lake. No known
wolverine den sites have been located during any field work within the RSA to date.
There are a number of potential ways that the road corridor could affect wolverine including;
mortality as a result of vehicle collisions, modification of behaviour, and habitat fragmentation
and loss.
Mitigation
The principle mitigation measures designed to reduce the potential adverse effects on wolverine
would be to restore the linear corridor to productive wildlife habitat upon closure. Traffic volume
and speeds will be quite low due to the fact that use of the road will be restricted to few trips per
day and the vehicles to be used on the road will primarily be Nodwells (or equivalent), which are
inherently slow. Any measures instituted to reduce the environmental effects on caribou are
expected to benefit wolverine as well.
Significance
The overall magnitude of the potential effects is considered to be minimal as the amount of
habitat that would be disturbed is quite small. The potential environmental effects that may
occur to wolverine populations will be localized in geographical extent. Although the duration of
the potential effects may be long-term (~20 years), they are finite and reversible. Overall, the
potential impacts from habitat loss, fragmentation and disturbance can be considered to be
negative.
Significant Wildlife Habitat
Environmental Effects
Habitats of Seasonal Concentrations of Animals
Winter deer yards
There are no known winter deer yards within the RSA
Late winter moose habitat - Late winter moose habitat is abundant throughout the study area
and may be directly impacted by the construction of either road corridor. However, moose
populations in this portion of the Trout Lake Forest are inherently low (0-0.2 per km 2 ) and the
wildlife management objectives in this area focus on caribou (OMNR 2009b). With the