How you can help the caribou herds

(above) BQCMB ad from Above & Beyond magazine, September 2006. Click here for full image. ( 2.5 MB PDF)

An English/Inuktitut ad from the Nunavut edition of News/North, one of the print, radio and cable TV ads that the BQCMB ran in late 2007, urging support for recommendations to protect the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds and their habitats. Click here for full image. Or listen to an mp3 radio ad in English or Dene.

The BQCMB, a group of biologists, wildlife managers and aboriginal hunters that advises governments on ways to safeguard the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq caribou, made numerous recommendations for protecting the herds and their habitats from human-caused activity in a position paper submitted to the governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Canada, and to other organizations, in the fall of 2004. (Plain language summaries are also available in English, Inuktitut and Dene.) The Board has offered to co-ordinate a multi-agency approach to obtain critical data about the caribou herds and to develop plans for the management of human activities on the caribou ranges.

Everyone's support on this issue is vital. You can help by asking elected representatives to take action to protect the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq caribou herds and their habitats. Every voice will help the BQCMB make sure that caribou remain plentiful and healthy in the future.

• The BQCMB’s position regarding caribou and habitat protection
• Action recommended by the BQCMB for caribou and habitat protection
• Elected representatives
  • Canada
  • Nunavut
  • Northwest Territories
  • Saskatchewan
  • Manitoba

The BQCMB’s position regarding caribou and habitat protection

1. Governments aren’t doing enough to protect the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq caribou herds in the face of increasing levels of human activity on the caribou ranges.
2. The caribou herds should be protected from activities that people, companies or governments do on the land that could harm caribou or the land, lakes and rivers upon which the herds depend.
3. It is especially important to protect:
   • the areas that caribou use while giving birth to their calves (calving areas); and
   • other areas they depend on while the calves are very young (post-calving areas).

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Action recommended by the BQCMB for caribou and habitat protection

• Designate traditional calving grounds and post-calving areas as legally protected areas. This would stop human activities from harming these essential habitats, and prevent caribou and newborn calves from being disturbed while in these areas.
• Protect the herds at other times of the year through improved and enforced Caribou Protection Measures. Caribou Protection Measures are restrictions on development activities permitted on the caribou ranges. These Measures would protect caribou during key periods and in specific areas outside protected areas, but wouldn't provide long-term protection for lands and waters.
• Learn more about the combined effects of many changes (such as climate change and development activity) to ensure caribou habitat outside protected areas is changed as little as possible. This would include creating computer models to predict the possible cumulative effects of more proposed developments.
• Map calving and post-calving areas regularly to help identify boundaries for legally protected areas. Calving ground surveys haven't been done for either herd since 1994, and the federal government stopped funding the Caribou Protection Measures’ monitoring program, which mapped calving and post-calving areas, in 1991. The BQCMB is lobbying governments to conduct calving ground surveys in 2007.
• Develop several regional land use plans and one conservation plan to establish which land use activities will be permitted on different parts of the caribou ranges, and to provide improved communication and coordination among jurisdictions and caribou management boards. Only the Keewatin Regional Land Use Plan in Nunavut exists now, and it needs to be updated with better directions for protecting the herds.
• Consult with northerners before any recommendations go ahead. It's very important to make sure caribou herds are healthy and continue to do well in the future. However, governments must ensure people realize that actions taken to protect caribou and habitat may affect economic development as well.

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Elected representatives

Canada

1. The Hon. Chuck Strahl
Minister, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 992-2940
Fax: (613) 944-9376
E-mail: strahl.c@parl.gc.ca

Nunavut

1. The Hon. Olayuk Akesuk
Minister, Department of Environment
P.O. Box 1200
Legislative Building
Iqaluit NU X0A 0H0
Phone: (867) 975-5026
Fax: (867) 975-5095
E-mail: oakesuk@gov.nu.ca

2. Nancy Karetak-Lindell
MP for Nunavut
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 992-2848
Fax: (613) 996-9764
E-mail: KaretN@parl.gc.ca

Constituency addresses
P.O. Box 344
Arviat NU X0C 0E0
Phone: (867) 857-2888
Fax: (867) 857-2229
Toll Free: 1-800-531-4982
E-mail: karetn1@parl.gc.ca

P.O. Box 1930
Iqaluit NU X0A 0H0
Phone: (867) 979-4193
Fax: (867) 979-4196
Toll Free: 1-866-267-7701
E-mail: karetn2@parl.gc.ca

3. David Alagalak
MLA for Arviat
P.O. Box 1200
Iqaluit NU X0A 0H0
Phone: (867) 975-5032
Fax: (867) 975-5113
E-mail: dalagalak@gov.nu.ca

Constituency address
c/o Lorraine Malla
Arviat NU X0C 0E0
Phone: (867) 857-4485
Fax: (867) 857-4486
E-mail: dsimailak@gov.nu.ca

4. Hon. David Simailak
MLA for Baker Lake
P.O. Box 1200
Iqaluit NU X0A 0H0
Phone: (867) 975-5023
Fax: (867) 975-5095

Constituency address
c/o Susan A. Walsh
Baker Lake NU X0C 0A0
Phone: (867) 793-4949
Fax: (867) 793-4950

5. Tagak Curley
MLA for Rankin Inlet North
P.O. Box 1200
Iqaluit NU X0A 0H0
Phone: (867) 975-5027
Fax: (867) 975-5121
E-mail: tcurley@gov.nu.ca

Constituency address
P.O. Box 874
Rankin Inlet NU X0C 0G0
Phone: (867) 645-4900
Fax: (867) 645-4981

6. Hon. Levinia Brown
MLA for Rankin Inlet South/Whale Cove
P.O. Box 1200
Iqaluit NU X0A 0H0
Phone: (867) 975-5075
Fax: (867) 975-5095
E-mail: lbrown@gov.nu.ca

Constituency address
c/o Thomas Tiktaq
Rankin Inlet NU X0C 0G0
Phone: (867) 645-4866
Fax: (867) 645-4865

7. Tongola Sandy
President
Kivalliq Inuit Association
P.O. Box 340
Sakku Building
Rankin Inlet NU X0C 0G0
Phone: (867) 645-2800
Fax: (867) 645-2348
E-mail: tsandy@kivalliqinuit.ca

8. Paul Kaludjak
President
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
P.O. Box 638
Iqaluit NU X0A 0H0
Phone: (867) 975-4900 or toll-free 1-888-646-0006
Fax: (867) 975-4948

9. Lorne Kusugak, Mayor
Hamlet of Rankin Inlet
P.O. Box 310
Rankin Inlet NU X0C 0G0
Phone: (867) 645-2895
Fax: (867) 645-2146

10. David Aksawnee, Mayor
Hamlet of Baker Lake
P.O. Box 149
Baker Lake NU X0C 0A0
Phone: (867) 793-2874
Fax: (867) 793-2509

11. Tony Amauyak, Mayor
Hamlet of Chesterfield Inlet
P.O. Box 10
Chesterfield Inlet NU X0C 0B0
Phone: (867) 898-9926
Fax: (867) 898-9108

12. Johnny Marngark, Mayor
Hamlet of Arviat
P.O. Box 150
Arviat NU X0C 0E0
Phone: (867) 857-2841
Fax: (867) 857-2519

13. Percy Kabloona, Mayor
Hamlet of Whale Cove
P.O. Box 120
Whale Cove NU X0C 0J0
Phone: (867) 896-9961
Fax: (867) 896-9109

Northwest Territories

1. The Hon. Michael Miltenberger
Minister, Department of Environment and Natural Resources
P.O. Box 1320
Legislative Assembly
Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Phone: (867) 669-2355
Fax: (867) 873-0169
E-mail: michael_miltenberger@gov.nt.ca

2. Dennis Bevington
MP for Western Arctic
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 992-4587
Fax: (613) 992-1586
E-mail: Bevington.D@parl.gc.ca

Constituency address
4908 - 49th Street
P.O. Box 1986
Yellowknife NT X1A 2P5
Phone: (867) 873-6995
Fax: (867) 920-4233

4. Robert Tordiff, President
Northwest Territory Métis Nation
206 McDougal Road
P.O. Box 720
Fort Smith NT X0E 0P0
Phone: (867) 872-2770
Fax: (867) 872-2772
E-mail: ssmtc@gardtal.com

5. Adeline Jonasson, Chief
Lutsel Ke Dene First Nation
P.O. Box 28
Lutsel K'e NT X0E 1A0
Phone: (867) 370-3051
Fax: (867) 370-3010

6. Peter Martselos, Mayor
The Town of Fort Smith
174 McDougal Rd.
P.O. Box 147
Fort Smith NT X0E 0P0
Phone: (867) 872-8400
Fax: (867) 872-8401
Email: townoffortsmith@northwestel.net

7. Bill Norn, Chief
Deninu Kue First Nation
P.O. Box 1899
Fort Resolution NT X0E 0M0
Phone: (867) 394-4335
Fax: (867) 394-5122

Saskatchewan

1. The Hon. Nancy Heppner
Minister, Saskatchewan Environment
Room 315
Legislative Building
2405 Legislative Drive
Regina SK S4S 0B3
Phone: (306) 787-0393
Fax: (306) 787-1669
E-mail: minister.env@gov.sk.ca

2. MP for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, Saskatchewan (POSITION CURRENTLY VACANT)
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 995-8321
Fax: (613) 995-7697

4. Hon. Buckley Belanger
MLA for Athabasca
Room 150
Legislative Building
2405 Legislative Dr.
Regina SK S4S 0B3
Phone: (306) 787-0394
Fax: (306) 787-7905
E-mail:  bbelanger@mla.legassembly.sk.ca

Constituency address
P.O. Box 310
Ile-a-la-Crosse SK S0M 1C0
Phone:  (306) 833-3200 or 1-800-239-9820
Fax:  (306) 833-2622
E-mail:  bbelanger@mla.legassembly.sk.ca

5. Ron Michel, Grand Chief
Prince Albert Grand Council
Opawakoscikan Reserve #201
2300 - 9th Avenue W.
P.O. Box 2350
Prince Albert SK S6V 6Z1
Phone: (306) 953-7200
Fax: (306) 764-6272

6. Frederick Throassie, Chief
Black Lake First Nation
P.O. Box 27
Black Lake SK S0J 0H0
Phone: (306) 284-2044
Fax: (306) 284-2101

7. Rosalie Tsannie-Burseth, Chief
Hatchet Lake First Nation
General Delivery
Wollaston Lake SK S0J 3C0
Phone: (306) 633-2003
Fax: (306) 633-2040

8. Albert Mercredi, Chief
Fond du Lac First Nation
P.O. Box 211
Fond du Lac SK S0J 0W0
Phone: (306) 686-2102
Fax: (306) 686-2040

9. Dean Classen, Chairperson for Uranium City
Northern Settlement of Uranium City
C/o Dean Classen
General Delivery
Uranium City SK S0J 2W0
Phone: (306) 498-3441
Phone: (306) 498-2761 (Dean Classen, work number)
Fax: (306) 498-2112

10. Claire Larocque, Chairperson for Camsell Portage
Northern Settlement of Uranium City
Phone: (306) 498-3765
Fax: (306) 498-2441

11. Curtis Fiss, Mayor
Hamlet of Stony Rapids
P.O. Box 120
Stony Rapids SK S0J 2R0
Phone: (306) 439-2173

Manitoba

1. The Hon. Stan Struthers
Minister, Manitoba Conservation
Legislative Building, Room 330
450 Broadway
Winnipeg MB R3C 0V8
Phone: (204) 945-3730
Fax:
E-mail: mincon@leg.gov.mb.ca

2. Tina Keeper
MP for Churchill, Manitoba
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 992-3018
Fax: (613) 996-5817
E-mail: Keeper.T@parl.gc.ca

Constituency addresses
P.O. Box 6, 3 Station Road, Suite 201
Thompson MB R8N 0N3
Phone: (204) 677-1333
Fax: (204) 677-1339

Sagkeeng Arena, P.O. Box 100
Pine Falls MB R0E 1M0
Phone: (204) 367-6150
Fax: (204) 367-6158

3. Gerard Jennissen
MLA for Flin Flon
234 Legislative Building
450 Broadway
Winnipeg MB R3C 0V8
Phone: (204) 945-2936
Fax: (204) 948-2005
E-mail: gerard.jennissen@leg.gov.mb.ca

Constituency address
P. O. Box 331
24 Main St.
Flin Flon MB R8A 1N1

4. Hon. Eric Robinson
MLA for Rupertsland
118 Legislative Building
450 Broadway
Winnipeg MB R3C 0V8
Phone: (204) 945-3729
Fax: (204) 945-5223
E-mail: Mincht@leg.gov.mb.ca

5. Sydney Garrioch, Grand Chief
Manitoba Keewatinook Ininew Okimowin
6th Floor-338 Broadway
Winnipeg MB R3C 0T2
Phone: (204) 927-7500
Fax: (204) 927-7509
E-mail: sgarrioch@mkonorth.com

6. John W. Bighetty, Chief
Barren Lands First Nation
General Delivery
Brochet MB R0B 0B0
Phone: (204) 323-2300
Fax: (204) 323-2275

7. Ila Bussidor, Chief
Sayisi Dene First Nation
General Delivery
Tadoule Lake MB R0B 2C0
Phone: (204) 684-2022
Fax: (204) 684-2069

8. Joseph Dantouze, Chief
Northlands First Nation
General Delivery
Lac Brochet MB R0B 2E0
Phone: (204) 337-2270
Fax: (204) 337-2055

9. Christopher Baker, Chief
O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation
P.O. Box 13
South Indian Lake MB R0B 1N0
Phone: (204) 374-2271
Fax: (204) 374-2350

10. Mike Spence, Mayor
Town of Churchill
P.O. Box 459
Churchill MB R0B 0E0
Phone: (204) 675-8871
Fax: (204) 675-2934
E-mail: townofchurchill@mts.net

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