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        Given the downloaded and SFU network data available concerning Vancouver Island environments, landuse,
        and wildlife ecology, I hope to...

                        1.  Explore the most suitable areas to build a fishing and hunting lodge on Vancouver Island. This lodge will offer a great outdoors adventure experience - a relaxation getaway from urban life - and will require forested wilderness areas with a plentiful mix of large and small game for hunting and a lake or rivershore site for freshwater fishing.  The area should not be located on protected habitat zones, within designated park lands, or within settlement, agricultural, or protected areas.  Potential development sites should be on existing hunting lands and should contain some sloped terrain to provide more challenging hunting and outdoor hiking excursions.  As well, huntable lands should be at least 3km away from Vancouver Island's major highway network as they create wildlife disturbance barriers, consequently affecting game movement in wilderness areas near and adjacent to the busy, noisy highways.  Distances from BC Hydroline right of ways need also be considered as they too create disturbance barrier affects to species movement (edge effects) and are eyesore breaks in the wilderness environment.
                        2. Further analyze the suitable areas in terms of area size and slopes.  Is the area large enough to accomodate 3-4 night on-foot hunting trips around the lodge perimeter? At least 4 square kilometers will be needed as well as an assessment of the surrounding slopes to determine the relative hiking and hunting difficulty.  Hunting  trips would not cover as great an area as regular hiking trips as hunters have to be relatively close to the lodge in time to drag their game back before spoiling.  Slopes should be variable but should not exceed 15 degrees so as to make hunting more manageable with greater distances from the lodge.  It would be too difficult to maually drag a large game animal in areas that have too high a slope.


        Consequently, my project will incorporate multiple criteria evaluations,, buffer, and statistical analysis', to assess the many variables and  map themes that  I will have to overlay, reclass, and analyze.


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