Peter Quinby, Thomas Lee, Michael Henry, Ancient Forest Exploration and Research, 154 Wright Avenue, Toronto, ON M6R 1L2, Canada; Steve Trombulak, Jeff Lane, Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA; Robert Long, Paula MacKay, Greater Laurentian Wildlands Project, 4 Laurel Hill Drive, South Burlington, VT 05445, USA

Restoration of functional connectivity between protected areas is essential to preventing or mitigating deleterious population effects associated with fragmentation, and to ensuring the viability of wide-ranging species requiring ample habitat for foraging, seasonal movement, and other needs. The objective of this study was to identify the best path for a Priority Conservation Corridor between Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario and the Adirondack Park in New York using the eastern timber wolf (Canis lupus lycaon) as a focal species. The area of the proposed corridor is approximately 8,600 km2, with its width varying according to the favorability of selected habitat at any given point. Protected and restored, this corridor would not only provide connectivity between the parks for wolves and other large, wide-ranging species, but would provide secure habitat for myriad species inhabiting this region.

Wolves were historically present throughout the study area, but were extirpated from the southern portion by 1900. Wolf recovery in the northeastern U.S. is of increasing conservation interest. Potential habitat for recovery has been identified in the Adirondacks, and Algonquin Park is the most significant stronghold for wolves in southern Ontario. For many of the larger carnivores, and especially habitat generalists like the wolf, habitat security is often a function of road and human density. This study attempts to answer the question: If wolves were to seek movement between Algonquin Park and the Adirondacks, what would be their path of least resistance?

The Priority Conservation Corridor was identified using a number of descriptive models and geographic information systems (GIS) analyses. The models were used to assess and integrate variables that have been shown to influence the integrity and movement of wolf populations, including road density, presence of major roads, population density, land use and proximity to water. After 90m x 90m cells were weighted in relation to these variables, path analyses were used to identify the most favorable paths between the parks, and to assign path widths by evaluating the relative "cost" of moving any distance away from the path. By qualitatively evaluating corridors of various widths, it was decided that the top 5% of identified cells along the best single path provided better corridor designs than those based on smaller percentages. This model minimized bottlenecks in northwestern New York and provide continuous corridors throughout the remainder of the study area.