Bradwell National Wildlife Area Management Plan: chapter 4

4 Goals and objectives

4.1 Vision

The long-term vision for Bradwell National Wildlife Area (NWA) is wildlife conservation: the NWA provides relatively undisturbed wetland and upland migratory bird habitat in an intensively cultivated region and supports more than 100 bird species at some point during the year, with staging, nesting, brood rearing, or moulting habitat.

4.2 Goals and objectives

The principal aspect of this management plan for Bradwell NWA is coordination with water management plans developed by Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) for the Baldwin Project. Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) will also continue the maintenance and improvement of upland wildlife habitat through seeding, prescribed burns, and other management techniques.

Goal 1: Restore and enhance upland grassland vegetation at Bradwell NWA as nesting cover for migratory birds.

1. Objective: Increase the structural and compositional heterogeneity of grasslands using natural disturbance tools (by 2020).
2. Objective: Reduce the distribution and abundance of alien invasive plants and noxious weeds (ongoing).
3. Objective: Reduce the distribution and abundance of native woody vegetation using natural disturbance tools (by 2020).

Goal 2: Maintain water level manipulations in wetland habitats in the NWA compatible with the DUC Baldwin Project.

1. Objective: All wetlands within the NWA will contain sufficient water of good quality to maximize brood habitat availability during times of drought (ongoing).
2. Objective: Beaver and Muskrat dam building or burrowing activities that interfere with water control structures will not increase over time (ongoing).
3. Objective: Vegetation obstruction with water flow through ditches will not increase over time (ongoing).

Goal 3: Enhance and streamline management activities in the NWA and on surrounding lands.

1. Objective: Complete a feasibility study for the consolidation of Bradwell NWA with adjacent lands (by 2019).

4.3 Evaluation

Annual monitoring will be performed within the limits imposed by the availability of financial and human resources. The management plan will be reviewed 5 years after its initial approval and reviewed and updated every 10 years thereafter. Evaluation of this management plan will take the form of an annual review of monitoring data obtained from the monitoring and research projects outlined below. Monitoring will be used to establish priorities for action and to allocate resources.