U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Kootenai Tribe team up to save woodland caribou

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently reached a formal agreement with Idaho’s Kootenai Tribe to revise the recovery plan for the woodland caribou in the southern Selkirk Mountains.

"This cooperative approach will ensure stakeholder involvement, make the best use of technical experts familiar with caribou conservation, and will help all of us prepare a plan for caribou recovery more efficiently," Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office Supervisor Mike Carrier said. “We applaud the efforts of the Kootenai Tribe and other federal, state and tribal partners and other participating stakeholders for their contributions toward the recovery of this imperiled species."

The woodland caribou is endangered. The southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou live in a high-elevation habitat in northern Idaho, northeastern Washington and southern British Columbia. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service will provide technical and policy review assistance as well as financial support, while the tribe will prepare the draft of the revised plan. The final plan is expected to be released in 2016 following a public comment period and any resultant changes to the draft.

"This is a good example of government participation that saves costs and achieves conservation more efficiently and effectively,” Tribe Chair Gary Aitken Jr. said.