WHEREAS the Province of British Columbia relies upon the renewable resources and sustainable development created by the citizens of the province who live and work in pursuits such as ranching, farming, forestry, tourism, and outfitting to sustain healthy regional economies, and, in doing so, to also act as stewards of the lands and the environment; AND WHEREAS the Province of British Columbia also relies upon non-renewable resources, including base and precious metals, coal, valuable stone, oil and natural gas for much of its economic development; however, the exploration for and exploitation of these subsurface resources often conflicts with the use and enjoyment of the overlying surface of the lands where such resources are found: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities request that the Legislature of British Columbia pass legislation that clearly establishes the rights of the surface owneroccupant in relation to the exploration and development of the subsurface rights holder.
MINISTRY OF ENERGY, MINES AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES Land owners may not be aware that a free miner has a right of access to minerals and that the entry onto their land does not constitute trespassing. As well, free miners may not be aware of specific concerns with entry that a land holder may have; for example, the time of entry or exploration work near water resources. For these reasons, we amended the Mineral Tenure and Coal Acts to address any potential conflicts between free miners and land owners. The amendments seek to strike a balance between promotion of economic growth through access to land for mineral exploration and development and a land owners expectations regarding the enjoyment and use of their property. Section 11 of the Mineral Tenure Act Act protects land owners by ensuring that certain categories of land are excluded from being negatively impacted by mining or mineral exploration. For example, the Act contains a list of areas that cannot be explored by free miners which include: land occupied by a building, the curtilage space of a dwelling house, orchard land, land under cultivation, protected heritage property, land in a park, and land in a recreation area.