I now repent: caribou vs. development

Transnational networks of oil rush under our feet every day. Millions of barrels. Does the presence of pipelines affect activity above ground?

I'm writing an article about pipeline construction in my state, and I've been interested in that very question. Can pipelines can affect local wildlife in the long-term? Other than at large pumping stations, it shouldn't have a huge impact (unless that oil or gas surfaces, of course). But maybe so.

In order to inspect their lines, companies clear their right-of-way of brush. This is great for general pipeline safety (although in some wetland-type areas — like in the picture above — plants grow so fast they quickly cover the area back up), but it ends up fragmenting habitat and increasing the matrix, which certain species really, really don't like. My ecology professor just taught us how ovenbirds won't build nests near the forest edge, for instance. Now, does the 50-foot right-of-way like the one shone above really make a difference for wildlife abundance? The ovenbird would say yes. Does the ovenbird get a say?

In Vancouver, wildlife managers are faced with the question, "Caribou, wolves or development?"

The article is light on the particulars of exactly how much land will be "opened up" by a pipeline itself, but DeSmogBlog did a decent job showing how oil sands territory in Alberta overlaps caribou habitat. Smaller habitat area correlates with smaller populations, so it would stand to reason that caribou numbers are decreasing. Now, it seems, the provincial government's solution is to kill off predators, which weren't really doing harm in the first place. So it seems, from my U.S. perspective, Alberta is solving species decline with more species decline.

It's a mess. And when you step back, both the pipeline and the predator problems trace to the tar sands, and when you step back even further it leads right back to us, unwilling to consume less fossil fuels.

Let's repent. "Give dirt to me/I now lament." The Pixies are more relevant than ever.