A Conservation Unit (CU) is a group of wild Pacific salmon sufficiently isolated from other groups that, if extirpated, is very unlikely to recolonize naturally within an acceptable timeframe, such as a human lifetime or a specified number of salmon generations.Holtby and Ciruna (2007) provided a framework for aggregating the five species of salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) found on Canada’s Pacific coast into species-specific CUs based on three primary characteristics: ecotypology, life history and genetics. The first stage in the description of the Conservation Units is based solely on ecology. The ecotypologies used in this framework include a combined characterization of both freshwater and near-shore marine environments, and is termed “joint adaptive zone”. The second stage of the description involves the use of life history, molecular genetics, and further ecological characterizations to group and partition the first stage units into the final Conservation Units. The result is CUs that are described through the joint application of all three axes. It is important to note that CUs are distinct from other aggregates of Pacific salmon, such as designatable units (DUs) under the Species at Risk Act or management units (MUs).CU Counting Sites:Salmon spawner enumeration data in the Pacific Region is stored and managed in the New Salmon Escapement Database (NuSEDS). The term “escapement” is used to refer to the group of mature salmon that have ‘escaped’ from various sources of exploitation, and returned to freshwater to spawn and reproduce. This data is assigned to a “Counting Site”, which may be a complete watercourse with a marine terminus, a tributary to a larger watercourse, or a defined reach within a watercourse that may or may not encompass the entire population but represents an index of the abundance of that population. CU Status:CUs form the basic unit for assessment under Canada’s Policy for the Conservation of Wild Salmon Policy (WSP) (DFO 2005). The biological status of a CU is evaluated using a number of metrics (Holt et al. 2009; Holt 2009), which indicate a WSP status zone: Red (poor status), Amber (marginal status), or Green (healthy status). A final step then incorporates all metric and status-related information into a final integrated status for each CU, along with expert commentary to support the final status determination (e.g., DFO 2012; DFO 2016). This information is used as inputs to fisheries management processes to help prioritize assessment activities and management actions.Note: CU boundaries were reviewed in 2020-2021 and have been updated from the BC Freshwater Atlas 1:50,000 scale to the BC Freshwater Atlas 1:20,000 scale. The CU boundaries were last updated in March 2023. Please be aware that CUs may be reviewed and are subject to change without notice.Please refer to Conservation Unit Review Requests-Form and Summary for a list of CU review requests that are ongoing or have been finalized.

Named point features (both fresh and marine) such as points of land, etc. Point names included as an attribute

Tenure Areas are geographic administrative areas named for local features and used to group petroleum and natural gas Land Plats situated within the same local geographic area.

Salmon have a complex hierarchical population structure extending from groups of salmon at individual spawning sites all the way up to taxonomic species. These independently functioning aggregates are defined as Conservation Units (CUs) in the Wild Salmon Policy. A stock management unit (SMU) is a group of one or more CUs that are managed together with the objective of achieving a joint status.There are 69 SMUs containing 468 CUs. In 2022, eight SMUs units did not have enough information to provide an assessment. Sixty-one units were assigned a forecast. There are ongoing requests to represent salmon information for these areas. Salmon are assessed and managed at different levels for different needs. The layers in this dataset include administrative areas, stock management units, and conservation units.The data included is a shapefile containing a single feature class layer represented in point and polygon form, as well as a csv table (attributes) to present Stock Management Unit information in a simple, visual way.

Unit of Assessment layer**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

This dataset is a combination of landscape unit, biogeoclimatic zone/subzone/variants and Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Plan leading group type (PineGroup or FirGroup) that patch size assessments are carried out on. Refer to the **Cariboo Regional Biodiversity Conservation Strategy Update Note #4: An Approach for Patch Size Assessments in the Cariboo Forest Region** (see below under "Related Links") for more information on how patch size assessment amalgamation units are derived.

This is a polygon feature class representing large, named, physiographic features (areas) in the province, e.g., mountains, mountain ranges, ridges, plateaus, hills, and valleys.

Standards Units for an opening represents desired soil conservation limits and stocking outcomes for the defined net area to be reforested. An opening may have one or more standard units. Standards Units may not overlap. Older records may not have standard unit maps available. Stocking standards represent legal silviculture obligations for harvested areas for the defined standard units. This is part of the Silviculture and Land status Tracking dataset, which includes tracking achievement of silviculture obligations on Crown Land

The bedrock geologic units designate units of the same types of rock which composed the solid rock exposed at ground surface (as outcrop) or which underlies unconsolidated surficial sediments. This dataset represents a general description of the stratigraphy and geology, including geologic unit thickness, morphology, age and rank. It features a list of the geologic unit names and types of rock (lithology) in the hydrogeological unit, from a controlled vocabulary. While the preferred format to deliver this data is by using a shapefile and its linked attributes, this dataset can be delivered also by providing link to external data which should have at least the same properties or also by joining a georeferenced image of the map.

The Prairie Soil Zones file shows the general distribution of major soil zones across the Prairie region of Canada. Soil zones (based on the Canadian System of Soil Classification) are named based on the dominant soil classification of the soils in each zone. Data extent is limited to the Agricultural Zone as defined in Soil Landscapes of Canada v 3.0 (Lefebvre et al. 2005).