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Eric Auger & Sons Successfully Complete the Government of Alberta?s Seismic Line Restoration Pilot Project
2018-06-14
Restoring Alberta’s Fragmented Landbase



WABASCA, AB, June 6, 2018 – Eric Auger & Son’s Contracting Ltd. (Eric Auger & Sons) has successfully completed the Government of Alberta’s (GoA) seismic line restoration pilot implementation in the A La Peche caribou range. This project included restoration treatments on 59 km of seismic lines, planting over 80,000 trees, and protecting 11 km of advanced regrowth. Seismic line restoration involves restoring man-made linear features to a forested condition and has been identified as a critical component in the effort to create and maintain self-sustaining caribou populations in Alberta.

Eric Auger & Sons is an Indigenous, family-owned company located in Wabasca, Alberta. To complete this pilot project, they partnered with Silvacom Ltd. (Silvacom), an Edmonton-based environmental consulting firm. Since 2010, Eric Auger & Sons and Silvacom have completed several caribou habitat restoration projects. Together, they are leaders in designing effective restoration projects that meet landscape, habitat and environmental objectives. In addition, they develop and implement operational plans that incorporate traditional knowledge, stakeholder input, environmental and access constraints, regulatory approval requirements, and quality assurance objectives all while ensuring the safety of field crews.



“Together with Silvacom, we pioneered an approach to restoring Alberta’s fragmented landbase and since this time have continually refined the approach. This pilot implementation project was successfully completed and illustrates that our team approach works, and the experience we bring is unparalleled in Alberta,” says Dennis Auger, General Manager, Eric Auger & Sons.

This pilot project was part of the Government of Alberta’s Draft Provincial Woodland Caribou Range Plan, a working document that seeks to address the goals and objectives for Alberta’s Woodland Caribou Recovery Plan and policy, and the Federal Woodland Caribou Recovery Strategies for both boreal and southern mountain wood and caribou populations. Addressing caribou habitat recovery through seismic line restoration projects is an important part of the plan and will help the province move toward the federal goal of 65 percent undisturbed habitat within caribou ranges.

John Peters, Director of Energy & Environment with Silvacom says, “Eric Auger & Sons and Silvacom have collectively completed over 400 km of linear restoration in Alberta. We look forward to working together on future initiatives and creating new and innovative approaches to restoring caribou habitat in Alberta and beyond.”



About Eric Auger & Sons Contracting Ltd.
Founded in 1988, Eric Auger & Sons is a First Nations, family-owned and operated, heavy equipment contracting company. Local to Wabasca, Alberta, they serve the Northern Alberta oil and gas industries. They have partnered on linear restoration projects with Silvacom since 2010, providing the operational ground team; including tree planters, tractor operators, and site foremen. All their operators are fully qualified and safety-oriented and consistently work to ensure that everything is quality-checked and done to code. In keeping with the tradition of remembering family roots, Auger remains very involved with local community-related projects.
Learn more at www.ericaugerandsons.ca

About Silvacom Ltd.
Established in 1983, Silvacom provides consulting and software solutions to improve land management. They have over 70 staff working in areas of environmental management, forest management, GIS, ecosystem services, stakeholder engagement and software development. They serve multiple sectors including forestry, energy, agriculture, government, and Indigenous groups. Silvacom was named one of Canada's Top 100 Small and Medium Employers (SME) in 2016 and 2018, and one of Alberta's Top 70 Employers in 2017 and 2018.
Learn more at www.silvacom.com

For Further Information, Please Contact:
Jason Supernault
Assistant Manager
Eric Auger & Sons Contracting Ltd.
780-891-3751
j.supernault@ericaugerandsons.ca