OTTAWA — The iconic image of the woodland caribou has graced one side of Canadian quarters since 1936 and environmentalists are worried that may be the only way to see this endangered species in the future.

Public consultations on a caribou recovery strategy come to an end today but Environment Minister Peter Kent said he will likely extend the time the government has to sift through what its heard by an additional 30 days beyond the usual 30-day period.

That means it will be April before the government comes up with a recovery strategy to save a species driven out of its habitat by oilsands development and urban sprawl in booming western Canada.

Kent said he needed the additional time after more than 14,000 submissions were handed in during a consultation period on a draft recovery plan that began last September.

"I understand the impatience of those who would like snap decisions or faster decisions but we are doing our due diligence," Kent said in an interview.

"One of the principle reasons for the extension was to properly consult with First Nations," he said.

There are currently about 32,000 boreal woodland caribou remaining in Canada, according to Environment Canada’s latest survey. That number is a revised estimate from 36,000 a decade earlier. At least half of the caribou’s range has been lost due to activities that disturb and fragment their forest habitat.

Some of the government’s critics believe Kent is dragging his feet on the issue. Simon Dyer, policy director at the Pembina Institute, said there were immediate steps the government could have taken to halt the decline of the woodland caribou’s population.

"Regardless of how long it takes to implement a recovery strategy what is critical is we need emergency protections for some of these herds in the interim, but the minister refused to do that," Dyer said.

Oil sands development, road construction and other human activity are the primary threats to the woodland caribou in northern British Columbia and Alberta, according to a scientific review done by Environment Canada.

Alberta caribou herds are in the most danger of extinction and are classified as "very unlikely" to survive while herds in Saskatchewan are also in dire straits. The review found that the majority of the caribou herds elsewhere in Canada are in satisfactory shape and at self-sustaining levels.

Alberta’s oil sands region contains eight woodland caribou herds and according to Global Forest Watch 82 per cent of the Albertan caribou range has been leased for oil and gas development.

"We know that caribou have declined throughout the province, not just in the oilsands area but in other areas where caribou habitat has been damaged by massive wildfires, so we are trying to find ways to reduce the likelihood of human activities adding to that," said Dave Ealey of Alberta’s Sustainable Resource Development.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society delivered 32,000 Canadian signatures to Kent last week to ask him to strengthen the national strategy.

"This (petition) represents one person for every remaining boreal woodland caribou that remains in Canada," said Eric Hebert-Daly, national executive director of CPAWS.