Coeur d'alene salamander (Plethodon idahoensis) management plan 2017: chapter 2

Part 1 - Federal Addition to the Management Plan for the Coeur d'Alene Salamander (Plethodon idahoensis) in British Columbia, prepared by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Preface

The federal, provincial, and territorial government signatories under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1996) agreed to establish complementary legislation and programs that provide for effective protection of species at risk throughout Canada. Under the Species at Risk Act (S.C. 2002, c. 29) (SARA), the federal competent ministers are responsible for the preparation of management plans for listed species of special concern and are required to report on progress within five years after the publication of the final document on the SAR Public Registry.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency is the competent minister under SARA for the Coeur d'Alene Salamander and has prepared this management plan (Part 1), as per section 65 of SARA. To the extent possible, it has been prepared in cooperation with the British Columbia (B.C.) Ministry of Environment, as per section 66(1) of SARA. SARA section 69 allows the Minister to adopt all or part of an existing plan for the species if the Minister is of the opinion that an existing plan relating to wildlife species includes adequate measures for the conservation of the species. The Province of British Columbia provided the attached management plan for the Coeur d'Alene Salamander (Part 2) as science advice to the jurisdictions responsible for managing the species in British Columbia. It was prepared in cooperation with Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Parks Canada Agency.

Success in the conservation of this species depends on the commitment and cooperation of many different constituencies that will be involved in implementing the directions set out in this management plan and will not be achieved by Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Parks Canada Agency, or any other jurisdiction alone. All Canadians are invited to join in supporting and implementing this plan for the benefit of the Coeur d'Alene Salamander and Canadian society as a whole.

Implementation of this management plan is subject to appropriations, priorities, and budgetary constraints of the participating jurisdictions and organizations.

Additions and Modifications to the Adopted Document

The following section has been included to address specific requirements of the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) that are not addressed in the Management Plan for the Coeur d'Alene Salamander (Plethodon idahoensis) in British Columbia (Part 2 of this document, referred to henceforth as "the provincial management plan") ) and/or to provide updated or additional information.

Under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) , there are specific requirements and processes set out regarding the protection of species and their habitats. Therefore, statements in the provincial management plan referring to protection of species and their habitats may not directly correspond to federal requirements, and are not being adopted by Environment and Climate Change Canada or the Parks Canada Agency as part of the federal management plan.

1.0 Effects on the Environment and Other Species

A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is conducted on all SARA recovery planning documents, in accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals. The purpose of a SEA is to incorporate environmental considerations into the development of public policies, plans, and program proposals to support environmentally sound decision-making and to evaluate whether the outcomes of a recovery planning document could affect any component of the environment or any of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy's (FSDS) goals and targets.

Conservation planning is intended to benefit species at risk and biodiversity in general. However, it is recognized that implementation of management plans may also inadvertently lead to environmental effects beyond the intended benefits. The planning process based on national guidelines directly incorporates consideration of all environmental effects, with a particular focus on possible impacts upon non-target species or habitats. The results of the SEA are incorporated directly into the management plan itself, but are also summarized below in this statement.

The provincial management plan for Coeur d'Alene Salamander contains a short section describing the effects of management activities on other species (i.e., Section 8). Environment and Climate Change Canada adopts this section of the provincial management plan as the statement on effects of management activities on the environment and other species. The distribution of Coeur d'Alene Salamander overlaps with that of other federally-listed species at risk that occur in seepages and streams in central- and south-central B.C., including Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) and Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas), both of which are Special Concern. Conservation planning activities for Coeur d'AleneSalamander will be implemented with consideration for all co-occurring species at risk, such that there are no negative impacts to these species or their habitats. Some management actions for Coeur d'Alene Salamander (e.g., preventing sedimentation, water diversion and chemical spills) may assist in the conservation of other species at risk that overlap in distribution and rely on similar habitat attributes.

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