January 28, 2005 for immediate release

Students in a UNBCEnvironmental Planning course will be putting their education to practical usethis semester while working on a project for the Cariboo Regional District.

The 17 students will bedeveloping a background report for the area immediately outside of the Williams Lake municipal boundaries. Essentially,the study will look at the best lands to accommodate future growth of thecommunity.

“The first step will be toparticipate in an open house and visioning session in Williams Lakethis Saturday, January 29th,” says professor John Curry. “We’ll also becompiling the results of a survey on fringe area development issues, preparinga report for the CRD, and then presenting that report to the RegionalDistrict’s meeting in March. The opportunity to participate in a project likethis is of great benefit to the students and also provides the community with atangible benefit at the end of the course.”

A number of UNBC classeshave explored local development issues in communities throughout northern BC,on topics such as local history, air quality, and nature-based tourism.

“We’re very glad to beable to work with UNBC and have young minds and fresh ideas brought to the project,”says Planning Chair for the Board, Director Byron Kemp. “Community planning hasbeen a priority for our Board of Directors for many years, and we recognizethat by effective land use and development planning we can resolve many of thefuture issues that may effect our residents. An important part of our work isto coordinate with the City of Williams Lake. We want to see the valley plannedas a complete whole and we’ll be working closely with the City to make sure ourplans are consistent.”

UNBC’s School of Environmental Planning provides the only bachelor’s degree in Planning inwestern Canada.The program has three themes: natural resource planning, northern rural &community planning, and First Nations planning. For more information about theprogram, see www.unbc.ca/planning.