Final woodland caribou recovery strategy release delayed

The federal government has delayed the release of the final woodland caribou recovery strategy until at least Sept. 30. According to the mandatory timelines set out in the Species at Risk Act, once the overdue draft strategy was released in August 2011, the final recovery strategy should have been posted in November 2011. The public comment period was extended until February 2012, after which another legal deadline to release the final strategy 30 days later was missed. Prodded by a court direction to set a date for release of the overdue final strategy, a Justice Department lawyer indicated in an Aug. 13 letter to Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Cold Lake First Nations, Swan River First Nation, Alberta Wilderness Association and Pembina Institute that the Environment Minister “intends to post a final recovery strategy” by Sept. 30, 2012, but “should the Minister not be able to meet that deadline, he will proactively inform the Court and Applicants in advance of that date.”