Woodland Caribou: Management and Policy

Defenders has worked to protect the woodland caribou by encouraging the Forest Service to develop a winter recreation plan that requires the responsible use of snowmobiles in woodland caribou territory, and by petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate the critical habitat for the woodland caribou under the Endangered Species Act.

Winter Recreation Plan

Defenders and local conservation groups had no choice but to go to court to enforce a long overdue requirement that the Forest service develop a plan for managing winter recreation in the woodland caribou’s last occupied habitat in the United States, which had largely been overrun by snowmobiles.

This legal effort resulted in the following protections in caribou habitat:

Snowmobile Trail Map
Supplemental Closure Map