Background

Ecosystem and Wildlife of Basket Lake

Basket Lake is on located on Canadian Shield in the southern reaches of the boreal
ecosystem. The forest around the lake is dominated by jack pine (Pinus bansiana) and
spruce (Picea spp.). In the area, mixed forest is a regular occurrence, often dominated
by trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and white birch (Betula papyrifera). Other
tree species that occur in this part of the boreal forest include white pine (Pinus
strobus), red pine (Pinus resinosa), and tamarack (Larix laricina), as well as red maple
(Acer rubrum) and black ash (Fraxinus nigra) (Domtar 2012).
The wildlife found at Basket Lake is diverse. Moose (Alces alces andersoni), and
white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are common, along with beavers (Castor
canadensis), muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus), red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus),
and porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum), to name a few. Large and small carnivores are
also found throughout the area, m
ost notably Wolves (Canis lupus) are present in the
area.
There is abundant bird life, both resident and migratory, including some passerine
species that migrate from Central and South America. Some notable species include
pileated woodpecker (Hylatomus pileatus), bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus),
common loon (Gavia immer), wood duck (Aix sponsa), and killdeer (Charadrius
vociferus).
Currently, no provincially or federally species at risk have been sighted at Basket Lake.
However, several species have parts of their range in the Kenora region (Ontario
Ministry of Environment, 2015). These include bald eagle, least bittern, short-eared owl,
snapping turtle, and yellow bittern, among others ( Table x). One purpose of this survey
is to attempt to determine whether any of these species are found at Basket Lake.
Moose (Alces alces) at Basket Lake
Moose are a common sight in Northwestern Ontario. One of the largest terrestrial
vertebrates in North America, they range from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador,
and from Nunavut to the the mid-Rockies (CITE). Males are recognizable for their large
antlers, which can grow to two meters across. These animals are largely solitary, often
seen in browsing in shallow bays or shrubby areas in the summer. The exception to

their solitude occurs during the rut, when males congregate to compete for females.
Calves are born in the early spring, and quickly learn to run and swim.
The moose hunt has long been a source of recreation to local populations of people in
Northwestern Ontario, but also to out-of-province hunters. A steady hunting industry
exists in the area, with hunting lodges allocated a certain number of hunting tags per
year. It occurs in mid-to-late October.
In recent years, wildlife biologists have begun to note a sharp drop in moose
populations in Minnesota, Manitoba, and Ontario, as well as several other areas in the
northeast. Though the exact cause of this decline is not known, several possibilities
exist, including but not restricted to rising annual temperatures, increased contraction of
brainworm from northward-expanding white deer populations, continued hunting
pressure, and poor recruitment of young into the population (cite). Research is
underway in Manitoba and Minnesota to further investigate the causes of this decline,
but no conclusions have been reached yet. Ontario is in the beginning stages of their
investigation.
Forestry on Basket Lake
Basket Lake (Figure x) is in northwestern Ontario, northeast of the town of Dryden. The
lake is Crown-owned and managed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and
Forestry (MNRF). The lake lies on two types of provincial management boundaries,
divided between two Forest Management Units (FMU) and two Wildlife Management
Units (WMU). The FMUs determine the logging extent of logging for each forestry
company operating on a particular forest, while the WMUs are designated to determine
which MNR office is responsible for managing and monitoring important wildlife
populations.
HISTORY OF BASKET LAKE LOGGING?
Basket Lake is split roughly between two FMUs. On the western portion of the lake is
FMU 130 (hereafter referred to as Wabigoon Forest), while on the east side is FMU 230
(hereafter referred to as English River Forest). Domtar forestry company operates in the
Wabigoon Forest and Resolute operates on the north, south and eastern parts of
Basket Lake (Fig X). A small FMU located south of the lake is also cut by a local
forestry operation, Dryden Forest Management Company.
Crown land belongs to the people of Canada and is owned by the Canadian federal
government. However, management of Ontarios Crown forest is supervised by the

provincial government under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (1994). Forestry
companies are granted the right to log on designated forests units; to be granted this
right, they must follow a designated planning structure and set of regulations to sustain
the long term health of the forest. A Sustainable Forest Licence (SFL) is granted for
twenty years, which is then broken down into two phases, and furthermore into five year
Forest Management Plans (FMPs). These plans determine the forest blocks that will be
cut and when that will occur.
Domtar and Resolute are both in Phase II of their planning periods and will be
implementing the planning process for their FMPs in 2015 and 2016, respectively. As
such, Basket Lake Camp has reached out to both companies to initiate the negotiation
of a Resource Stewardship Agreement (RSA). The RSA process was designed by the
Ontario government with input from the forestry and tourism industries. It aims to create
a framework for any forestry operation and a resource-based tourism operator to
negotiate on equal footing to protect both their interests.
The main purpose of this report is to catalogue the diversity of plant life in each
high-ranked MAFA bay, to potentially determine the likelihood that moose are
frequenting the bays. This information will bolster information already acquired by the
MNRF and hopefully aid us in our goal of having the area designated a
moose-emphasis zone.
We also hope to use this information to aid Basket Lake Camp in their eventual RSA
negotiations with Domtar and Resolute. Our surveys will attempt to account for any
sensitive species found in the area, and potentially help us catalogue tourist values on
the river. This will be done in the course of the aquatic and terrestrial surveys. An
increased knowledge of these areas will allow us to ask the MNRF to designate them as
tourist values, especially if moose frequent the areas.
Materials and Methods
Survey Site Choice
The sites that are surveyed in this report were chosen based on two criteria. The
first is the Moose Aquatic Feeding Area (MAFA) map generated by the MNRF. Surveys
are conducted from the air, and trained MNRF personnel categorize the likelihood of
moose use based on the type and amount of plant life observed in a bay or area. We
acquired a MAFA map generated for the southeastern and southwestern portions of
Basket Lake (Figure X), and from this map were able to determine the bays that have

been previously surveyed. The northern portion of the lake was flown in July 2015
(Dorothy Brunner, pers. comm.), but the results of this survey have not been released
yet, and so we could not include them in this survey.
The other basis on which the bays were chosen was by local knowledge. Basket Lake
Camp has been operating on the lake since the 1960s, and many patrons have been
patronizing the business for almost as long. As such, there is extensive knowledge
about the moose activity on the lake. In most cases, the high-ranked MAFA bays
correspond with the areas that the residents and patrons of Basket Lake regularly see
the moose themselves.
Using both these criteria, six bays were selected for to survey (Table X; Figure X), with
one alternate bay. Due to time constraints, these were the only six bays surveyed. Not
all bays have names, so a code was applied to each for consistency ( TableX).
Additionally, priority was given to the bays on the western portion of the lake because
the RSA negotiations with Domtar will be occurring sometime in 2015, in accordance
with the FMP design process.
Surveys
Quadrat locations were chosen based on the habitat requirements for moose. Moose
use a combination of habitats, based on time of day and season. During the day, moose
tend to stay in forested areas, while in the evenings and early mornings, they are often
found in open areas or at forest edges, feeding (REF). Through the course of a year,
moose use a number of habitats preferentially. In spring and summer, moose are often
found in young forests, and feeding in shallow bays, while in the winter, they use
mid-successional and old-growth forests, depending on snow cover and depth. The fall
is the only time that moose are in the open during the day, because this is when they
congregate for the rut.
Because moose use a variety of habitats, an approach was required that
accommodated a broad swathe of their forest and wetland use. Two forest surveys were
conducted, one in early- to mid-successional forest and the other in old growth forest.
An aquatic transect was also undertaken to catalogue the aquatic plant life of the
wetland or bay nearby.

Terrestrial Surveys

Terrestrial surveys were conducted using a 10m x 10m forest plot, and was used
because it it large enough to characterize the forest type and herbaceous undergrowth
(REF). Because moose utilize both old and successional forests, an attempt was made
to conduct surveys in both of these types of forest. Forest type was initially delineated
using Google Earth satellite imagery, and randomly chosen within that area (REF).
Before beginning the quadrat, the terrain and forest-type was ground-truthed. In the
event that terrain was inhospitable, the quadrat was moved and new corners of it
recorded.
Every plant species within the quadrat is identified, recorded and entered into a
fieldbook for later entry into a master spreadsheet. Any rare or invasive species are
noted during this initial survey. The percent canopy cover is estimated, with the
dominant tree species noted. Undergrowth was also characterized this way: the percent
ground cover estimated and most prevalent species recorded (REF). Additionally, the
DBH of any tree over X diameter was taken by measuring the radius and dividing it in
two (REF).
If any super canopy trees were located within the quadrat, they were noted and
assigned a number, so their DBH could be referenced, if needed, later. Super canopy
trees outside the quadrat but in the bay, were geotagged and given a number as well.
Aquatic Surveys
To characterize the aquatic plant life, transects were created in each bay using a line
intercept method (AB AQ Field Sampling 2006). A Xm rope was anchored at two points
perpendicular to the shore and the plant life along it catalogued every 5m. The number
of transects conducted depended on size of bay and prevalence of plant life.