John Weaver presents Headwater Havens report at Lebel Mansion

John Weaver, Senior Scientist
for the Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada
T.  Lucas photo

Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

On Tuesday, October 1, Senior Scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada John Weaver held a presentation at the Lebel Mansion in Pincher Creek.

The focus was the results from his recent conservation assessment report 'Protecting and Connecting Headwater Havens'.  This study looked at the southern Canadian Rocky Mountain area known as the Crown of the Continent to determine vital areas for various vulnerable species.  Weaver sped up his timeline for having his report ready so that the information could be used by the South Saskatchewan Land Use Plan.


Southern Alberta is the habitat for a variety of wildlife that includes several vulnerable species. They may be in an area for their whole life cycle, or key time components such as breeding grounds or migratory pathways.

Weaver focused on 6 different species:  grizzly bears, wolverines, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, native bull trout, and westslope cutthroat trout.

Weaver focused on two key points that all species face:  Mankind and human development, and climate change.  Then he explained the impact of these points to each of the species in focus.

Mankind impacts nature in various ways including the development of roads that go deeper into secluded areas. People can affect it directly with hunting as one example.  Less directly they may bring in vehicles such as motor bikes or ATV's, without necessarily understanding the environmental impact they are having on the natural ecosystem that they are out to enjoy.

Climate change effects can include the the length of seasons, temperatures during a season, precipitation, and the temperature of the waterways.  This can have a variety of effects that might not be easy to notice.  Wolverines are born white and change color as they age.  If the snow cover is melted off earlier in their area that means the young wolverines become visible to other predators.  Cold water fish breed in certain temperatures of water.  If the water does not reach or maintain certain temperatures the breeding cycle may be interrupted.

"Roads degrade habitat potential," explained Weaver. They become a boundary that can be dangerous to cross.  Emissions, and added activity to an area can change a prime habitat location to one that is degraded, or even undesirable due to safety issues.  That is the most dangerous to a vulnerable species as they will still go to an area that seems highly desirable for their needs, and then find that it is unsafe to live in.  "We are concerned about Highway #3 being a fracture zone," said Weaver as he explained some of the ways that animals have tried to go around or avoid crossing that particular roadway.

"One of the things we have learned over the last 10 years is how important the mountain passes are to these species," said Weaver.  Showing a map of his Alberta study area that extended from Highwood Pass at the north end of the Crown of the Continent to the Montana border Weaver said "Seventy one percent of this landscape is important to one or more of these vulnerable species."

"This is driven by data, from the bottom up," said Weaver.  He would like to see his study used and the findings applied to the areas he studied to create safe habitats for vulnerable species.