2003/04 – 2005/06 SERVICE PLAN Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management

B. Goals and Core Business Areas

The ministry expects to fulfill its mission and vision by achieving four goals¹. The ministry’s external services are provided through Goals 1, 2 and 3. Goal 4 (organizational excellence) supports and ties together the first three goals. Section C provides details on how each goal will be achieved.

The goals in this year’s Service Plan have changed from those in 2002/03–2004/05 to meet the government’s greater focus on economic growth and job creation as well as the legal obligation for meaningful consultations with First Nations².

Goal 1: Sustainable economic development of land and resources

Resource-based economic opportunities supported through land and resource plans, improved tools for balanced decisions and participation with First Nations.

Goal 2: Effective delivery of integrated, science-based land, resource and geographic information

Integrated land and resource information to ensure client support for economic development, land-use planning, sustainability and e-government services.

Goal 3: Sound governance of land and resource management

Policies and legislation to guide sustainable resource management and to ensure that Crown land and resource decisions are informed by First Nations’ interests.

Goal 4: Organizational excellence

Demonstrated visionary leadership and continuous improvement through performance-focused staff as well as accountability and transparency to the public.

Core business areas

The ministry has five core businesses in 2003/04 based on the sub-votes in the Estimates. Three of these (Sustainable Economic Development, Integrated Land and Resource Information and Sound Governance) are very similar to the goals. The fourth core business, Executive and Support Services, supports all four goals. The fifth, Property Assessment Services, supports the management of the Property Assessment Appeal Board and the Property Assessment Review Panels under Goal 3. Two further sub-votes under the ministry’s vote are the responsibility of related agencies with their own service plans; the Agricultural Land Commission and Water Management under the LWBC. The Resource Summary in Section E elaborates further on the linkage between goals and core businesses.

New directions and major changes from previous plan

Major shifts in the external environment have affected both the natural-resource sector and the ministry itself. In addition, the government’s new strategic plan calls for an increased emphasis on promoting economic development, revitalizing investment, creating jobs and working with First Nations, while maintaining key environmental values. The ministry also has significant internal challenges and opportunities.

In order to respond to these, and to meet the government’s overall goals and new directions, the ministry is making the following broad changes:

• substantially revising its Service Plan and ministry organizational structure to accelerate access to Crown resources to support sustainable economic development;
• establishing a Council consisting of the Deputy Ministers of the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management and the Environmental Assessment Office together with the CEOs of BC Assessment, LWBC and the Agricultural Land Commission. This council will ensure that all these agencies coordinate and align their policies to support sustainable economic development; and
• negotiating protocol agreements with First Nations to expedite agreements on economic development and land-use planning (Sea-to-Sky, Lillooet, Central/North Coast, Queen Charlotte Islands, and Morice land and resource management plans³). This will provide more certainty and access to Crown resources, meet new legal tests for consultation and, where appropriate, accommodate First Nations’ interests. This in turn will encourage investment and assist rural community development.

Key strategies

The ministry has developed six key strategies to be pursued in collaboration with other natural resource ministries. Most of these span several ministry goals and divisions and are supported by the strategies given in Section C.

1. Develop a sustainable resource management framework for working forests, protected areas, mining and oil and gas development through application of sustainability principles.
2. Establish landscape objectives⁴ to increase access to timber while maintaining biodiversity and provide direction for forest- and range-stewardship plans required by the Results-Based Code.
3. Expedite resource-based tourism opportunities in rural British Columbia by coordinating activities in LWBC, the Ministry of Forests, the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection and Tourism BC.
4. Support mining, oil and gas development in the Muskwa-Kechika and other land-use plans.
5. Establish government-client teams in each region to identify resource-development opportunities supported by resource-use plans and information.
6. Complete the Central Coast Strategy⁵ to provide economic opportunities for First Nations and provide resource-based opportunities through ecosystem-based management⁶ for forestry and other resource users that will meet market requirements and revitalize the central coastal economy.

The ministry will maintain focus on a number of other major strategies, all of which are integral to or part of the New Era commitments, including:

• registries integration;
• e-filing for land title documents;
• fees and licence review;
• resource information — data standards and access;
• legislation to meet New Era commitments; and
• the archaeology site awareness project.

In order to meet these shifts in priorities, the ministry will change the delivery of a number of strategies listed in the ministry’s 2002/03 to 2004/05 service plan.

• The ministry will identify private sector partnerships and transition strategies for a number of information services.
• The ministry will also extend time frames to deliver activities on the Living Rivers strategy, the BC Trust for Public Lands and land-use plan monitoring. Private sector partnerships are also being pursued for some of these strategies.

Other key initiatives to be pursued in 2003/04 include developing a stronger client focus and improving consultation, coordination and priority setting with other provincial ministries and agencies. Other ministries and agencies are major clients for the ministry’s services and at a time of reduced resources and service capabilities, it is important to ensure resources are devoted to the most effective and efficient ends. The ministry therefore plans to negotiate service-level agreements with all major clients.