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Hampden Downs |
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Hampden Downs is a large
area of mostly barrens, which runs from Birchy Lake north almost to
Westport on White Bay. For certain wildlife species, it is an oasis of
food in a desert of forest. Hampden Downs was identified as a Sensitive
Wildlife Area by the Inland Fish and Wildlife Division in the 1980’s,
due to its importance to caribou as a source of food and as a calving
area.
The 41,182 hectares of mostly barrens are with scattered
patches of productive forest. |
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There are many distinctive characteristics
of this fairly isolated area. It is a lichen barren completely
surrounded by forest providing the caribou’s main food source, reindeer
moss, during the summer months. It also produces a huge volume of
blueberries, blackberries and partridgeberries over a large area, which
provides food from July until snowfall for Canada geese, black ducks,
common goldeneye, willow ptarmigan, other barren-ground birds, and black
bears, as well as caribou. Some of these animals in turn provide
food for red-tailed hawks. The partridgeberries also overwinter,
providing much needed food from late April to May, before other food
sources are available. In addition, Hampden Downs has a tremendous
number of small ponds containing islands, which are very important
nesting areas for geese, ducks and ptarmigan. One area of Hampden
Downs also has special geological features; the boulder strewn landscape
(glacial erratics) is visually appealing, especially “Rocky Village”. |
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Hampden
Downs is part of the habitat of the Hampden Downs Caribou Herd, one of a
number of herds of Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus) across the
province. Although not classified as “cyclic”, Woodland caribou on the
island of Newfoundland have undergone population fluctuations in the
past, and are currently experiencing a population decline for reasons
yet to be determined. A number of these caribou herds reside within the
timber limits of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited (CBPPL), and we
realize that we have to give full consideration to the protection of
adequate habitat required to maintain healthy herd levels. In 2003,
CBPPL formed a Forestry-Wildlife Liaison Committee with the Newfoundland
Forest Service and the Inland Fish and Wildlife Division, to deal with
areas of concern to wildlife that required special consideration.
Through this committee CBPPL has activated a number of measures to
ensure the availability of sufficient caribou habitat. Where harvesting
is to occur, we plan operations so as to avoid the calving/post-calving
season (May 15 – July 30), and the wintering period (December 1 – April
30). We also designate leave areas where no harvesting is scheduled on
a Five-Year Plan basis. Wildlife corridors are also established to
provide continuous forest cover between blocks of forested land. These
wildlife corridors may shift location from one 5-Year Plan to the next,
but will always ensure forested passageways for wildlife species. |
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