A MODEL FOR Y2Y
THE MUSKWA-KECHIKA AREA OF BRITISH COLUMBIA'S NORTHERN ROCKIES
In October 1997, four years of meetings and planning strategies of British Columbia's Land Resource Manegement Process culminated in the protection of more than 1 million hectares (2.5M acres) in 11 areas in British Columbia's Northern Rockies.
These new areas are surrounded by more than three million hectares (7.5M acres) of special management zones - where resource development such as logging, mineral exploration and mining, oil and gas exploration and development will be allowed in ways that maintain the wildlife and environmental values in key connections.
Through the process of consensus, full agreement on how to manage the area was reached between a diverse set of local interests. Representatives from environment/conservation, guide/outfitting, forestry, labour unions, local government, energy and mines, Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, non-commercial hunters and anglers, petroleum and natural gas, ranching, recreation, tourism, trapping and utilities sectors were all represented at the planning table.
The land use plan for the area is based on many of the same principles promoted by Y2Y: protect large areas of key habitat and manage human use between those areas in ways that allow for wildlife movement.
The plan provides economic and social stability to communities by ensuring continued access to & management of natural resources through land use designations ranging from full protection and special management to more intensive resource development and settlement areas. In effect, the plan balances resource management with conservation, making it an excellent example of how interests that once were in competition have found a way to co-exist with each other and with wildlife on the land.
- For more information on the Muskwa-Kechika region, contact:
- Wayne Sawchuk
- Chetwynd Environmental Society
- Box 204, Chetwynd, BC V0C 1J0
- Phone: (205) 788-2685,
- Email: wsawchuk@helix.net
- For more information on land use planning in the Northern Rockies or other areas of British Columbia:
- Land Use Coordination Office
- Phone: (250) 953-3471
- Fax: (250) 953-3481
- Website: www.luco.gov.bc.ca
Illustration by Ed Carswell, donated by CPAWS.
