Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson announced Wednesday the B.C. government added 105 hectares of alpine meadow and sub-alpine habitat on Crown land near Nanaimo to the Green Mountain Wildlife Management Area.
The additions raise the overall size of the protected area by more than 40 per cent to a total of 342 hectares. The area is important habitat for the endangered Vancouver Island marmot, and is ideal terrain for Roosevelt elk, black bear and various threatened and endangered species including the white-tailed ptarmigan, western toad and northern pygmy owl.
The wildlife management area was established in 1991 to help with Vancouver Island marmot recovery. Recent marmot recovery efforts have been successful. In 2008 there was an estimated 166 Vancouver Island marmots in the wild. Today their numbers are estimated between 280 and 400.
The increase to the Green Mountain Wildlife Management Area will help ensure they will have protected wild spaces as the populations continue to recover.
To view a map of additions to the Green Mountain Wildlife Management Area, please visit the map webpage at www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/downloads/green_mtn_wma_addition.pdf.