Native volunteers protect the caribou
Aseniwuche Winewak Nation run patrols, awareness program
For the past 18 years, Rachelle McDonald has heard the stories from the elders of Aseniwuche Winewak Nation.
The once-great woodland caribou herds have been dwindling throughout North America for decades as they lose their territory to industrial development, logging and mining.
In northern Alberta, the herds that once numbered in the hundreds — if not thousands — have drastically decreased.
“Our elders always told us that we needed to speak for the caribou because they couldn’t speak for themselves,” says McDonald, who has worked for the nation since 1997.
“They’ve told us over and over again that we need to be more proactive, that we need to take more of central role in doing something to help these animals.”
A few years ago, the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation near Grande Cache in northwest Alberta decided to adopt that role and applied to the federal Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk program.
In partnership with the provincial government and Foothills Landscape Management Forum, the nation received funding to establish a caribou patrol program.
“It’s a pretty simple idea,” says McDonald. “We employ caribou patrollers to travel up and down the Highway 40 corridor and a number of forestry roads to prevent vehicle collisions with the caribou as they migrate across the road.”
The program has earned the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation an Emerald Award nomination in the Community Group or Not-for-Profit Association category for its work to preserve the woodland caribou herds in the area.
Nation members spent 22 weeks this year patrolling near the highways and forestry roads during peak migration times. In addition to the patrols, volunteers with the program work to educate industry, the public and students about the importance of the woodland caribou and the impact of human activity on their natural habitat.
“Any industry operating within the caribou ranges, they would be well aware of the situation with the caribou,” says McDonald. “They’ve been really good at taking information and sharing that internally within their company, encouraging workers to slow down and watch for caribou.
“Vehicle collisions have been one of the leading causes of death with this herd, but really it’s a combination of human impact on the land,” McDonald explains. “This is their traditional home and the highway and the road were built cutting across their migratory routes.”
For the volunteers, the patrols offer a chance to uphold some of the traditional values instilled in them by their elders.
“When you’re out on patrol and you get the chance to interact with industry, with the public, when you get the chance to share a bit of the caribou story and give people concrete ways that they can contribute to preservation of the caribou, I think that’s living up to those values that you’ve been taught by your grandparents or your parents,” she says.
Since the program started, McDonald says both industry and the public have adjusted their habits to help the caribou.
“They’re more aware of where the caribou are, where they cross the highway and they generally will reduce their speed when they’re travelling on Highway 40,” she says, adding that companies in the area are encouraged to work together and share roads, rather than building new ones.
Raising awareness for the plight of the caribou has been the program’s most significant accomplishment, McDonald says.
“The biggest success of our program is that people are talking about caribou and they’re aware that they’re out there on the land,” she says. “I think it’s going to take a real concentrated effort by a lot of people to make a real substantial difference for the caribou.”
The two herds in the area have stabilized at about 80 and between 150 and 200 animals, respectively, she says. The patrols will continue, and she hopes the nation will be involved in implementing future provincial caribou range plans.
“We’ve watched the caribou herds dwindle now for several de- cades and without intervention, future generations might not know what a woodland caribou is,” McDonald says.