Tintamarre National Wildlife Area Management Plan: chapter 5
5 Management approaches
This section and the following table contain a description of some of the possible approaches that can be used in the management of the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area (NWA). However, specific management actions will be determined during the annual work planning process and will be implemented as human and financial resources allow.
| Management Challenge or Threat | Goal and Objective(s) | Management Approaches (actions, including level of priority) Table Footnotee |
|---|---|---|
| Wind power farms are expanding. | Goal 7: Wildlife populations and habitat within the NWA are not negatively impacted by land use and anthropogenic stressors originating outside of the NWA. Objective 7.a: Provide information on the NWA to environmental assessments for areas adjacent to the NWA |
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| Tourism activities may have a cumulative environmental effect. | Goal 6: Human activities within the NWA do not have a negative impact on wildlife populations or their habitats. Objective 6.b: Promote public recognition and understanding of “cumulative environmental effects” and how repeated and routine activities may be harmful to wildlife and their habitat. |
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| Off-road vehicles (ORVs), and especially all-terrain vehicles, cause extensive and long-lasting damage to the fragile wetland habitats within the NWA. | Goal 6: Human activities within the NWA do not have a negative impact on wildlife populations or their habitats. Objective 6.a: Reduce or eliminate ORV vehicle use and associated damage to vegetation within the NWA. |
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| Camping and open fires cause extensive and long-lasting damage to vegetation. | Goal 6: Human activities within the NWA do not have a negative impact on wildlife populations or their habitats. Objective 6.a: Reduce or eliminate illegal camping, open camp fires and associated damage to vegetation within the NWA. |
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| Predicted climate change could result in the flooding of the low-lying marshes of Tintamarre NWA. | Goal 7: Wildlife populations and habitat within the NWA are not negatively impacted by land use and anthropogenic stressors originating outside of the NWA. Objective 7.b: Undertake activities to mitigate negative consequences of climate change such as modifying water management regimes, invasive species control programs. |
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| Invasive species. | Goal 5: Control invasive and alien plant species so that the size and number of habitat patches known to be dominated by alien and invasive species will decrease over time. Objective 5.a: Habitat and vegetation will be actively managed to eliminate (where possible) or reduce the extent and density of alien and exotic plant species. |
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| Fish passage structures are not efficient. | Goal 4: Fish passage will be maintained and enhanced for fish, especially for migratory (diadromous) species in the waterways of the NWA. Objective 4.a: Replace existing fishway at Front Lake with one that allows for the passage of Gaspereau within three years. |
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5.1 Habitat management
5.1.1 Forests
Large-scale forest management within Tintamarre NWA is not desirable or anticipated. However, selected areas of older-growth forest with low species diversity, lost through past forestry operations, will be augmented through the planting of native tolerant hardwood species.
5.1.2 Fields and farms
Habitat manipulation will be conducted to maintain some old-field habitat (abandoned agricultural lands) in various stages of early plant succession. Vegetation with a high food value to wildlife such as wild apple trees, hawthorn (Crataegus sp.), Wild Rose (Rosa virginiana) and High Bush Cranberry (Viburnum opulus) will be retained and enhanced through judicious pruning. Woody material from this activity will be made into brush piles as cover for small mammals (Gullion 1984; Gullion, no date; Sepik et al. 1981). This work will provide and retain a wider variety of habitat within the Tintamarre NWA. This landscape is also beneficial as nesting and foraging habitat for Barred Owl, Great-horned Owl, Northern Goshawk, Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl; the latter is a species of Special Concern.
5.1.3 Freshwater impoundments
The human history of the Tantramar Marsh has resulted in significant manipulations of the habitat (Hustvedt 1987; MacKinnon 2000). Uplands were once cut for timber, and the wetlands have been cut off from the sea by dykes and then ditched and drained for agriculture. Following a series of studies, it was decided that these long-abandoned agricultural dykelands should be flooded through construction of impoundments in collaboration with Ducks Unlimited Canada (Whitman 1974; Kerekes 1975; Whitman 1976; Beauchamp 1976; Beauchamp and Kerekes 1980; Wein and Krusi 1982; MacKinnon et al. 1995; Gloutney and MacKinnon 2009). A series of shallowly flooded freshwater wetlands have been developed to provide wetland habitat for a diversity of species. Maintenance of the dykes and control gates is the responsibility of Ducks Unlimited Canada under an agreement with Environment and Climate Change Canada; however, biological management is done collaboratively following annual evaluations of water levels and habitat changes based on site inspections and aerial photography. Management may include manipulation of water levels to control areas of overgrown vegetation (Table 5). On rare occasions, vegetation may also be managed by mechanical removal if water level manipulation alone cannot control emergent plant cover (predominantly of concern are overgrowths of Cattail or Phragmites). Management of these impoundments strives to develop or maintain a hemi-marsh: an equal mix of vegetation and open water with a high degree of interspersion and plant species diversity (Sojda and Solberg 1993).
5.1.4 Bogs and fens
These habitats will be retained in their present condition. The Grassy Hole Lakes, which feed into Jolicure Large Lake, have long been recognized as having unique and undisturbed habitat (Spicer et al. 1995). As such, these small lakes, along with the adjacent bog and fen, were proposed as a candidate ecological reserve in New Brunswick (Wein and Jones, 1975). This is one of the few known sites where Bronze Copper Butterfly (Lycaena hyllus) is found, and it is also a nesting area for the Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis) (Dionne et al. 1988).
5.2 Wildlife management
5.2.1 Species at risk
Old fields will be held in early succession to provide rough cover foraging and nesting habitat for Short-eared Owl, Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark. This habitat will also benefit open grassland predators such as Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) and, in winter, Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo laopus).
Careful consideration will be given to management of the cattail marshes and fens given their importance as habitat for Least Bittern and Yellow Rail respectively. No special habitat management is required for the aerial insectivores (Barn Swallow, Chimney Swift and Common Nighthawk).
5.3 Monitoring
Most monitoring within the NWA has consisted of periodic habitat evaluations through botanical inventories and mapping, with much of the work focused on the controlled water-level impoundments. Further habitat monitoring is carried out annually by evaluation and review of high resolution aerial photography, in a joint meeting with wetland managers from Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Service. Monitoring for many species, such as waterfowl, is conducted as part of a larger regional program, although specific studies have been conducted (Milton 1977; Hanson 1993, Maillet et al. 1999). Other studies, either by the Canadian Wildlife Service or in cooperation with university researchers, are conducted as required.
Effective and efficient monitoring requires careful planning and a coordinated approach. Monitoring will be carried out in a manner that contributes to meeting recovery strategy and action plan objectives. Ongoing monitoring needs are as follows:
- Distribution and abundance of marsh birds, such as Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, Sora Least Bittern and Virginia Rail, within the controlled water-level impoundments.
- Periodical monitoring of songbird distribution and abundance within the wooded interior of the NWA and in grassland habitats (in support of an assessment of the quality of old-field habitats).
- Distribution and density of alien invasive plant species within the NWA.
- Monitor macro-habitat changes to the wetlands through an annual analysis of high-resolution aerial photography.
- Monitor macro-habitat changes to the upland vegetation every 10 years, using high-resolution aerial photography.
- Monitor unauthorized ORV activity in the NWA.
- Monitor limnological conditions and fish populations every 10 years.
5.4 Research
Research activities will be considered for permitting when the results obtained through research have the potential for the following:
- Increasing our understanding of habitat use and the distribution and abundance of waterfowl, shorebirds and migratory birds.
- Increasing our understanding of the habitat requirements of wildlife.
- Increasing our understanding of the habitat requirements of species at risk.
- Increasing our knowledge of the efficacy of habitat restoration techniques.
- Increasing our understanding of the possible effects of climate change and variability on water level management.
- Increasing our understanding of the impacts of invasive species and measures for their control and eradication.
To obtain a permit in order to conduct research in Tintamarre NWA and to receive instructions concerning guidelines for a research proposal, please contact:
National Wildlife Area - Research RequestEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service
17 Waterfowl Lane, P.O. Box 6227
Sackville NB E4L 1G6
Permit requests should be directed to: Permit.Atl@ec.gc.ca.
5.5 Public information and outreach
Situated just 9 km northeast of Sackville, New Brunswick, and in close proximity to the Trans-Canada Highway, Tintamarre NWA is well situated to attract even more visitors than currently use the area. Tintamarre is not actively promoted as a tourism destination. Although public access is permitted, public services are limited to access roads and parking areas. The area is frequented by recreational birdwatchers, canoeists and photographers. Hunting, fishing and trapping are allowed, subject to applicable federal and provincial regulations. These outdoor pursuits support the local economy and provide health benefits to users of the NWA through leisure exercise and enjoyment.
Public access for recreational purposes within the Tintamarre NWA is subject to the federal Wildlife Area Regulations of the Canada Wildlife Act. Activities such as camping and open fires are not permitted. Some traditional activities such as hunting, fishing, trapping, canoeing and birdwatching are allowed by virtue of a public notice posted at all main entrances to the protected area. Hunting, fishing and trapping activities require the applicable provincial and federal permits. The NWA is open to public visitation, and the area lakes are frequently used in the summer months for recreational canoeing.
The unique character of Tintamarre NWA and its significance as an important wetland complex have been highlighted in the national “Heritage to Protect” poster series. A limited number of these are available to educators, students and the general public on request.