B.C.'s government will make funds available for the first stage of a land and resource management plan (LRMP) for the Sunshine Coast Forest District.
New Democrat MLA Nicholas Simons, who represents the Powell River - Sunshine Coast riding, said Pat Bell, the minister of agriculture and lands, told him last week that the funds are available.
"I think it's exciting, because a lot of people have been asking me about it, especially in Powell River," said Simons.The Sunshine Coast Forest District, which encompasses the Powell River area and the Lower Sunshine Coast, is one of the few areas in the province that doesn't have an LRMP, a high-level land-use plan that designates protected areas, biodiversity areas and ecosystem-based management. A plan was initiated in 2001, but the provincial government later cancelled it.
Issues in Powell River that have prompted the call for an LRMP include concerns about logging in an area north of Lund called Rasmussen Forest, logging adjacent to Eagle River and logging in the Jefferd Creek watershed. As well, many people are concerned about the impact Cascadia Forest Products Ltd.'s new forest stewardship plan will have in the absence of an LRMP.
On the Lower Sunshine Coast, many residents are concerned about Pan Pacific Aggregates' proposal to do mining right next to the District of Sechelt.
Dan Bouman, executive director of the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association, said an LRMP is long overdue and desperately needed. "I'm extremely pleased that the minister has found some money to get it moving," he said.
The purpose of an LRMP is to provide some certainty for all the different economic sectors that have needs over the land base, Bouman added.
"Hopefully in an LRMP it's possible to identify areas that are important for community stability and community growth," he said. "The mining industry needs some certainty about where exploration can take place and we need to make sure that our communities don't find their economies destroyed by particular sectors."
Adriane Carr, leader of the Green Party of B.C., also said an LRMP is important for the area, in part because of the contention around land that is managed by B.C. Timber Sales. Cut blocks are being awarded, she said, but those areas need to be set aside while people talk about the community vision for the land use plan for this region.
"I feel strongly that we shouldn't log and talk," she said. "B.C. Timber Sales is under mandate to put out licences or cut blocks to log. It needs political directive in order for them not to do that."
Carr said she has requested that B.C. Timber Sales has a drop in its requirement to cut in the region in order to back off areas that are contentious from a public-land-use-planning point of view.
"I believe that an LRMP would put in place protection for community values," Carr said. "But I also believe that it is incumbent on the minister and the Liberal government to ensure those values aren't compromised while people are talking."
So far, funds for only the first stage of an LRMP are available, said Simons.
"It's just phase one. They call it a scoping project. It sets out the delineation of what should be covered," Simons said.The funds became available, Simons added, because so many people expressed their opinion, not just to him but also to the minister.
"I think it shows they were listening and they were listening to us. It says some nice things about the minister in this particular case, too," Simons added.
