Whereas the resource extraction activities in and around communities within the Nechako Watershed take place under a lack of landscape level planning; And whereas these poorly planned resource extraction activities contribute significantly to the provincial economy, but generate wealth at the expense of environmental and economic sustainability: Therefore be it resolved that the Province move quickly to landscape level planning and provide the oversight required to ensure a balanced approach to resource extraction and land management across BC.
Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Modernized land use planning program development began in 2018 and will be jointly designed and led by the Government of B.C. and First Nation governments. Local governments will also be consulted on how they wish to be engaged. Proposed land use planning projects will also include engagement with industry, non-government organizations, stakeholders and the public. The program will evaluate historic land use plans, explore new land use opportunities, and respond to emerging challenges in the management of B.C.s public lands and natural resources. At the forest landscape-unit planning level, amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act FRPA are being proposed for 2019 to address concerns about forest resource development and extraction, and the matter of establishing a planning framework at a landscape scale. The Ministry has already taken steps toward developing a renewed forest management planning framework that promotes Indigenous collaboration, and additional engagement will occur with communities, stakeholders and the public. Ministry branches are working together to ensure that a renewed FRPA planning framework aligns with and supports other related initiatives, such as Land Use Planning, wildfire mitigation and response, wildlife habitat protection, and the management of species at risk.