June 11, 2010

Planning for the zone of contact between Crown lands and settled lands (known as the “interface”) will be the subject of a conference to be held next week in Smithers.  Planning for the Crown-Settlement Lands Interface is the first event of its kind to address not just interface wildfires, but rural residential development, outdoor recreation, amenity migration, tourism, logging, mining, and respect for the rights of First Nations.

The event is being organized by the University of Northern British Columbia’s School of Environmental Planning in association with the Bulkley Valley Research Centre.

Culture, recreation, and industry are only a few of the activities that jockey for position on northern BC’s Crown lands. “Any resident living on the settlement side should be concerned about Interface planning because decisions about land use can have profound effects on their welfare,” says Ray Chipeniuk, Conference Organizer and Adjunct Professor at UNBC. “Consider the burning of vast quantities of waste wood on Crown land within a few kilometres of a town or village – which does happen in northern BC. Experts say this can have a large impact on public health.”

Nearly one hundred participants from around the world are expected to attend the Conference: urban and regional planners working for local governments, government environmental planners, academic researchers, planners working for First Nations groups, and representatives of concerned citizens.

“The government has many concerns as well,” says Dr. Chipeniuk. “Crown ministries and agencies can have their missions disrupted through not knowing how to involve themselves in regional district planning on the settlement side of the line. BC Parks planners would like to be able to keep parks from becoming biological islands as settlements surround them, but they are unclear about how to engage the residents in habitat conservation.”

The conference will be held at the Friendship Centre in Smithers on June 16 and 17 and at the Old Church on June 18.