British Columbia’s Temperate Rainforest

Wilderness Committee - WILD Educational Report Vol 11 - No 01 – Winter 1992

An Inventory of BC’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest Wilderness Watersheds

Description

Megin Valley, Clayquot Sound: the largest unlogged watershed on Vancouver Island. Photo credit: Ken Lay

Description

Recent clearcut logging in the San Juan watershed Photo credit: Gary Braasch

What is a Primary Watershed?

A primary watershed is a complete river or stream drainage basin that empties directly into salt water. Primary watersheds are important ecological units tied together by the flow of water from the mountain tops all the way down to the sea. At every point along the way, the water quality and quantity is the product of processes occurring upstream.

Description

Moyeha Valley, Strathcona Provincial Park. One of only four primary wilderness watersheds entirely within a park in BC Photo credit: Randy Stoltmann

Description

The mouth of the Koeye River Photo credit: Bob Little

Grizzly bear

Grizzly eating salmon Photo credit: unknown

Last year Keith Moore, a BC professional forester on contract to Conservation International / Ecotrust and Earthlife Canada, completed an inventory of primary watersheds – watersheds larger than 5,000 hectares (ha) which empty directly into salt water. He divided them into three categories, pristine – those in which there is no evidence of industrial development; modified—those with some development but less than 2 percent of the area disturbed; and developed – those with over 2 percent disturbance. The point of the survey was to identify candidates for possible preservation. More and more biologists are recognizing that in order to conserve biodiversity into the future, we must set aside and protect large, contiguous, natural areas that include whole, undisturbed ecological units such as watersheds.

Moore found that only one third of BC’s 354 primary watersheds are still pristine or only slightly modified. These 118 wild watersheds are shown on the map on the right. Tables elsewhere on this page group these watersheds by ecoregion and present information about each one. The data was gathered from government sources—the federal ministry of fisheries and the provincial ministries of the environment and forests by WILD researchers Ian Parfitt and Rachel McGee. WILD’s search for information revealed that very little is known about B.C.’s wild coastal watersheds. Further biological inventories are essential if we want to rationally determine priorities for preservation.

A Key to Understanding the Data Tables in this Paper:

Name

  • Watersheds are named after the major watercourse or in some cases major lakes or lagoons within the watershed (Moore’s report).
    Area
  • Size of watershed in hectares (Moore’s Report). The choice of 5,000 ha as a minimum size for an area to be considered wilderness was used by the BC government’s Wilderness Advisory Committee of 1987, and by others.
    Development
  • Undeveloped watersheds are those with virtually no development – pristine (pris) or with very little development (less than 2 percent or no more than 250 hectares for large watersheds) – modified (mod). Development that has occurred has been primarily logging activities (Moore’s report).
    Protected
  • Watersheds are listed as park if they are completely within a national or provincial park, and RA if they are completely within a provincial recreational area. Mining exploration and developments are permitted within a RA. Watersheds which are only partially within an existing park or recreation area are listed as part (Moore’s report).
    Parks Plan ’90/ Wilderness for the 90s
  • In 1991 the BC ministries of park and forests released maps showing areas that they are respectively considering for further study as possible new parks or wilderness areas. Those watersheds that lie fully within a park study area are identified by the letter P. Those lying completely within a proposed Ministry of Forests’ wilderness study area are identified by the letter F. Watersheds which are only partially within a study area are further identified by (part) following P or F.
    Salmon SpeciesPresent
  • Escapement (number of spawning salmon by species returning to a stream) estimates are kept annually for most streams by the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). Notes on the productivity potential have also been made for some streams. Notice that this inventory is full of information gaps. Abbreviations: Chinook = Ch, Chum = Cm, Coho = Co, Pink = Pk, Sockeye = Sk.
    Waterfowl Rating
  • In 1985 R.A. Hunter, K.R. Summers and R.G. Davies prepared a rating scheme for the BC Ministry of Environment for BC’s major coastal wetlands. The coastal wetlands having high waterfowl use and productivity that are found within undeveloped watersheds are denoted by the word high.
    Grizzly Rating
  • The highest density of grizzly bear population in BC are found on the coast, but no complete, watershed by watershed inventory of our grandest land predator has been conducted. Four wilderness watersheds were identified by grizzly experts working for the Ministry of Environment as exceptional grizzly habitat. There are denoted by the word high. Watersheds with no rating do not necessarily mean they are less important as grizzly habitat. It means only that they have not been surveyed or rated.


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