In British Columbia and Canada, populations of caribou, including the Chase herd, are facing a decline. This herd is considered part of the southern mountain population of caribou and is listed as threatened under the Federal Species at Risk Act. The cause of this decline is often attributed to large-scale habitat changes that alter predator-prey relationships and increase predation risk for caribou.

In the last decade, the range of the Chase herd has undergone significant changes, including a mountain pine beetle infestation, large-scale pine salvage, road building, mining, exploration activities, and three large wildfires that burned over 93,000 hectares of the herd's range in 2014.

To address this decline, the Tsay Keh Dene Nation and Chu Cho Environmental have initiated the Chase Caribou Road Restoration Program. The program aims to restore roadways to reduce habitat fragmentation and limit predator access into high elevation caribou habitat.

The restoration work involves identifying roads in need of restoration, collecting field data, drafting a restoration prescription, using mechanical side preparation, tree felling, and access control to restore the roads. The treatments used so far include soil ripping, planting seedlings, and access control to prevent vehicles from traveling along the road. Ongoing monitoring of the restored roadways is important, and wildlife cameras are set up to monitor wildlife and human use. Data is collected before and after restoration treatments are applied.

This road restoration program is an important step in preserving the Chase herd and its habitat, and helping to bring the population back from decline.