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EnvironmentWildlife8TuesdayDecember172013WESCLEANN.W.T.WESCLEAN15IndustrialDriveHayRiverNT867-875-5100HappyHolidaysfromallofusatWescleanByMARIACHURCHTheterritorialgovernmenthasapprovedalimitedhar-vestfornon-Aboriginalresi-dentsthatputstheSlaveRiverlowlandsbisonandBeverlyandAhiakcariboubackinhuntersrange.Theapprovalwillallowresi-denthunterstopurchasetagstoharvestonebullfromtheBev-erlyandAhiakherdsaswellasonebisonfromtheSlaveRiverlowlandsbisonherdduringthe2013-2014huntingseason.HarvestingapprovalforbothbisonandcaribouisbasedonconservationrstandforemostMichaelMiltenbergerNWTministerofEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesENRtoldTheJournalbutpolicymak-ersmustbalancethatwiththerightsofresidentstohunt.Youhavepeopleatbothendsofthespectrumhesaid.Ourfundamentalen-vironmentaldutyistomakesurewelookatwildlifeissuesandconservationandpreser-vationofthespecies.ENRmonitorscaribouandbisonherdnumberseachyeartodetermineiftheycansustainalimitedharvestfromresidents.TheBeverlyandAhiakbar-rengroundcaribouherdsarebothlocatedinthefareastoftheterritoryneartheSaskatch-ewanborderwheretheyarenoteasilyaccessiblewhichhasal-lowedtheirnumberstoremainrelativelyuntouched.Themajorityoftheterri-toryscaribouarecurrentlyunderstressandhavebeenthefocusofconservationeffortsincludingharvestingbansMiltenbergersaid.TheBluenose-EastandBathurstcaribouherdshavebeenofflimitssince2006forresidenthunters.Thatbanwillcontinuethroughthe2013-2014biggameseason.SurveyresultsfortheBlue-nose-EastherdfoundmainlyintheTlichoregionshowacontinueddeclineinthenum-berofbreedingfemalesoverthepastthreeyearsdroppingfromapproximately51800in2010toaround34500thisyear.TheBathurstherdalsofoundintheTlichoregionissimilarlyexperiencingdecliningnumbers.TheGNWTiscurrentlylookingatdevelopingajointproposalwiththeTlichoGovernmenttodeterminefuturemanagementactionstoconservetheherd.Thenextroundofpopula-tionsurveysfortheBluenose-EastandBathurstherdswillbedonein2015.HerdnumbersforbisonintheSlaveRiverlowlandshaverisenoverthepastyearstotheirhighestnum-berssincethe1980sMilten-bergersaidwhichpromptedtheharvestingapprovalforthisseason.Theherdnumbersarearound1700animalswhichfromtheopinionofacon-servationandwildlifeper-spectivearehealthyenoughtosustainsomeharvesthesaid.AnENRspokespersonsaidwithresidenthunternumbersdroppingtheyhavenotputalimitonthenumberoftagsasparticipationratesareex-pectedtobelow.ResidentharvesttagswillbeavailableinearlyJanuaryandwillcost25forcaribouand100forbison.Aboriginalbisonharvest-ingisnotunderrestrictionalthoughhuntersareencour-agedtolimittheirharvesttobullsonly.CurrentlyresidentsincludeanyonewhohaslivedintheNWTforatleasttwoyears.OncetheGNWTsnewWild-lifeActcomesintoeffectin2014thatrequirementwilldroptooneyear.Harvestre-approvedforselectcariboubisonherdsPhotocourtesyofEnvironmentandNaturalResources-GNWTByMARIACHURCHFourspecieshavebecomethersttomaketheNWTslistofSpeciesatRiskthedepartmentofEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesENRannouncedlastweek.BorealcaribouPearycari-boupolarbearandthehairybrayaplanthavebeenselectedastherstspeciestobelistedsincetheNWTSpeciesatRiskActwascreatedin2010.Thepolarbearwasdesig-natedonthelistasspecialconcernmeaningitmaybe-comeendangeredbecauseofthreatsandbiologicalfactorswhiletheotherthreehavebeenlistedasthreatenedmeaningthespeciesislikelytobecomeendangeredifnoth-ingisdonetopreventit.Thelistofspeciesweresub-mittedtoENRMinisterMi-chaelMiltenbergerlastweekbytheNWTConferenceofMan-agementAuthoritiesCMAthebodyresponsibleforde-terminingthespeciesatrisk.Thefourspeciesweredis-cussedbytheCMAatameet-ingheldinInuviklastOctoberwherespeciesstatusreportstheNWTSpeciesatRiskCommitteesspeciesassess-mentsCrownconsultationaswellaspublicinputwerefactoredintothedecision.OverthenexttwoyearstheCMAwillbedevelopingapolarbearmanagementplanandrecoverystrategiesfortheborealcaribouPearycaribouandthehairybrayaplant.TheCMAmetagaininNdilolastweektoassessthestatusofDolphinandUnioncaribouandthenorthernleop-ardfrogintheNWT.Resultsareexpectedinearly2014.FirstspeciesaddedtoNWTsatrisklistEnvironmentWildlifePhotoAlanWilsonTheBluenose-EastcaribouherdalongwiththeBathurstcaribouherdremainsofflimitstoresidenthunterswithpopulationsurveysshowingtheirnumberscontinuetodecline.ThepolarbearhasbeenlistedasaspecialconcernontheNWTslistofSpeciesatRisk.