Gun Creek Marshall Lake Enhancement

Bridge River Valley in the South Chilcotin Mountains is a rain shadow area that spills out of ancient glaciers from the Lillooet Icefield and gradually transforms into grassland meadows and plateau zones. The area spreading between Gun Creek and Marshal Lake is home to an abundance of wild life diversity. Snowbrush is a widely distributed plant in the Bridge River Valley, where it can be found on dry, sunny hillsides and open forest clearings. This evergreen plant can reach one meter tall in this area and forms colonies of individuals which tangle together to form nearly impenetrable thickets. It is an essential food source for Mule Deer during the winter. Indeed, Mule deer are relatively selective feeders that require ample high-quality forage to balance their seasonal energy budgets. Whereas spring and summer forage is of high quality in the Bridge River Valley, forage quality declines in the fall and winter when plants transfer their nutrients for storage in stems and roots. Further, deer energy demands increase in the winter as temperatures drop and high-quality feed is covered by snow. Snowbrush is one of the only plants of the area that keeps its leaves during the winter and offers a substantial food supply for Mule Deer.

The abundance of this plant was negatively affected in the Bridge River Valley after the 2009 forest fire that destroyed large ecosystems. Over the years natural succession could develop and a lower stratum of snowbrush could re-establish in the valley. However, in a large area in the South Chilcotin Mountains near Gun Creek and Marshal Lake, the heat released by the fire was too high and burned the roots and the seed bed, preventing any regrowth. The sunny steep side hills, which are important winter foraging area for Mule Deer, are particularly affected by the loss of the snowbrush. Mule Deer must migrate to winter ranges generally on warm aspects (south or west facing) which provide high-quality forage that is critical to their over-winter survival. Mule deer return to the same winter ranges and therefore the loss of the food supply provided by Snowbrush endangers mule deer habitats and negatively affects their population in the Bridge River Valley.

Issues:

• Loss of forage species for mule deer due to high-intensity fires
• Mule deer population size is decreasing and species listed as of special concern

Goals:

• Collect seed and roots of Snowbrush
• Understand the conditions that prompted the current abundance of snowbrush outside of the high-intensity burn area
• Identify techniques for effective pretreating of seeds to ensure fast germination
• Sow seeds and/or plant cuttings in high-intensity burn area
• Monitor the success of the re-introduction of snowbrush and determine its benefits to the local mule deer population
• Raise local population and tourist awareness of the benefits of native plant sowing and winter range preservation
• Reduce road density in high value winter habitat areas