In 2019, BETO adopted a “Forest-Wildlife Development Plan” for the community’s woodlands. This plan is in fact a management tool that we will use to subsequently carry out forestry developments aimed at improving the quality of habitat for the various species of game that are hunted in the community: snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, white-tailed deer.
During the winter and summer of 2018, we carried out various wildlife and forest inventories in order to determine which sectors are more suitable for forest development, and therefore, the type of intervention that we could carry out. For example, by judging that a forest stand is of low quality for the snowshoe hare, we can determine which variables of its habitat could quickly be improved, and at what cost (e.g. planting fir trees to provide winter protection cover). By analyzing the situation as a whole, it is also possible to predict how certain developments may evolve in the long term. For example, development between different areas that are already of good quality could ensure connectivity between these good sectors, and thus promote the growth of the population of the targeted species.
To carry out the plan, we used different field methods:
– Snow tracking to determine areas of abundance of game species during the critical winter period
– Ultra-precise mapping of forest stands using a drone
– Count of white-tailed deer in winter ravages
– Tree vegetation inventory (summer)
– Forest regeneration inventory (summer)
These data were analyzed taking into consideration the forest composition around the community (at the regional scale). Indeed, since animals have no boundaries, these factors must be evaluated in order to maximize the chances of success of the developments. The plan therefore includes annual interventions over a twenty-year horizon which began in winter 2021.
We thus hope, in the medium to long term, to ensure quality habitat for exploited species and thus enable the maintenance of traditional activities of the Abenakis and to promote the transmission of knowledge to younger generations (hare snaring, deer hunting, etc.). The document is available for viewing below.
