Government asking for community input on representation
The Land and Resource Management Plan process is changing, and interested parties got their first glimpse of the changes this week.
Fifteen tentative stakeholders have been identified to take part in the Sea to Sky Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP).
As the LRMP process gets underway throughout the summer, those 15 stakeholders will be subject to change through a series of public forums in Pemberton, Whistler and Squamish.
"It could change base on the comments we hear from you," Dave Tudhope, project manager with the Sea to Sky LRMP, said at a public forum in Pemberton on Tuesday night.
"If we were just going to go ahead and do what we wanted, we wouldn’t be having these meetings."
The current conditional list of LRMP representatives includes one seat for each of the following:
• Agriculture
• Commercial Recreation/Tourism
• Community Economic Development
• Environment - Conservation
• Environment - Fish and Wildlife
• Forestry - Tree Farm Licensed area (Interfor)
• Forestry - Non-Tree Farm Licensed area
• Public Recreation - Motorized
• Public Recreation - Non-motorized
• Subsurface Resources and Aggregates
• Water (Independent Power Producers and others)
• Local/Regional Governments
• First Nations
There will also be two seats within the 15 for the provincial government, one as a chair and one as a facilitator.
Unlike previous LRMPs, some of which had up to 60 different voices at the table, there will be no government bodies like the Ministry of Forests or B.C. Parks represented at the Sea to Sky LRMP.
By drastically reducing the number of stakeholders, Tudhope said the government is hoping to streamline the LRMP process.
"In terms of the process we’re using, it’s different than what we’ve done in the past," said Tudhope, who has been involved in three other LRMPs, two of which have been approved and one which is in the process of approval.
In addition to limiting the number of stakeholders involved, there will also be tighter timeframes and deadlines.
Tudhope said the Okanagan-Shuswap LRMP, in which he was most recently involved, took five years to complete, whereas the Sea to Sky LRMP is scheduled to be ready for implementation after government approval in December 2003.
"(The stakeholders) won’t be allowed an unlimited amount of time to make decisions," he said.
If two or more of the stakeholder groups cannot agree on an issue, they will be asked to hash it out amongst themselves, away from the table. If they still cannot agree, they will be asked to develop options and alternatives and ultimately, the government will make the final decision.
To date, plans have been approved for over 70 per cent of the province. The Sea to Sky stakeholders will not start with a blank slate to develop a vision for the use and management of crown land and natural resources in the area.
Rather, they will be given a draft, which includes various topics they might want to consider, and this will be their starting point.
There are many common issues within each plan, such as the friction between maintaining habitat and developing resources.
Tudhope said that by presenting possible ideas and options beforehand, it will move the decision-making process along at a faster rate.
While there may be similarities between plans, there are also aspects unique to the Sea to Sky. Tudhope points to the proximity to Vancouver and the high commercial and pubic recreation use in the area as two distinct differences to other LRMPs.
About 30 curious locals attended the Pemberton meeting on Tuesday.
They were told that being a representative on the LRMP is a big time commitment, especially with the tight deadlines.
The 15 stakeholders would be expected to give up about 24 full days over the course of the process (from September 2002 to September 2003) for meetings with other stakeholders.
"That’s a full month of work," said one member of the audience.
In addition to the stakeholder meetings, the representatives will also have to meet with their constituents in the various organizations they represent so that all interests and concerns are heard at the LRMP table.
Locals raised concerns about a variety of issues at the public forum from current land tenures to First Nations involvement.
While one seat has been reserved for First Nations at the table, Tudhope could not confirm they would be involved in the process.
In some previous LRMPs First Nations have opted not to participate, while in others they have been heavily involved, most notably in the Central Coast and Queen Charlottes-Haida Gwaii LRMPs.
"I don’t know whether or not they’re going to participate in this," he said, adding that the bands haven’t deciding how they want to be represented.
Lyle Leo, the CEO of the Mount Currie band told Pique Newsmagazine in a previous interview that First Nations cannot simply be lumped into the same category as other stakeholders.
"(The government) need(s) to ensure that (First Nations) needs and concerns are included and be creative and innovative around that and not look at the First Nations as just another stakeholder," he said.
"There’s a real history there with the land."
Tudhope said the government is in ongoing discussions with First Nations about their involvement.
The representation for the LRMP will be confirmed this summer in time to start work in the fall.
"I appreciate that the time is not great," said Tudhope, who admits the summer is not the best time to garner support and interest.
The government will digest the comments and suggestions from these rounds of pubic meetings and will hold another meeting on July 6 identifying the representatives on the public forum.
They are slated to get down to work at the table by September.
