A mining company was proposing to construct a metallurgical coal mine at its Carbon Creek site in northern British Columbia’s Peace River Coal Fields. To support the submission of an Environmental Assessment Certificate (EAC) application, Associated Environmental completed the terrestrial baseline assessments, including the ecosystem, vegetation and wildlife studies, and Reclamation Plan for the study area.
To characterize ecosystems, extensive ground investigations were conducted to provide a comprehensive vegetation inventory, soil profiles, and identification of rare plants and plant communities. This resulted in Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping of the 630 square kilolmetre local study area, and Predictive Ecosystem Mapping of the 15,500 square kilometre regional study area.
Wildlife studies were conducted for a range of taxa groups and their habitats. B.C. survey protocols (Resource Information Standards Committee) were used to inventory breeding birds, owls and amphibians potentially occurring in the study area. Habitat assessments were completed for ungulates and furbearers, and winter tracking surveys helped to identify relative use and movement corridors.
The results of these baseline programs will support the preparation of an Environmental Assessment report and reclamation planning for the proposed mine.