Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results

This section outlines how specific objectives, strategies, performance measures and targets help achieve the ministry's goals. The diagram displays government strategic goals, along with the ministry mission, goals, objectives and performance measures, and indicates their linkage.

Government Strategic Goals		Ministry Mission Provide provincial leadership, through policies, planning and resource information to support sustainable economic development of the province's land, water and resources.
		Ministry Goals		Ministry Objectives		Performance Measures/Indicators
A strong and vibrant provincial economy, a supportive social fabric and safe, healthy communities and a sustainable environment.		1. Sustainable economic development of land and resources.		1. Long term strategic direction for the sustainable use of Crown lands and resources.		• Completion and adoption, by target dates, of specified priority strategic-level plans and accompanying implementation strategies which satisfy the governance principles for sustainability. • Resource targets completed for the specified percentage of the province.
				2. Sub-regional land and resource planning and associated projects that enable specific sustainable economic development of Crown lands and resources.		• Hectares of additional Crown land identified by the ministry for sale/tenure as a consequence of land and resource planning. • Percentage of high priority SRMPs completed that are required to support the Forest and Range Practices Act. • Number of new SRMPs completed by target date to enable specific resource-based opportunities.
				3. Leadership in land and resource management decisions.		• Percentage of clients making land and resource management decisions who are satisfied with the ministry's leadership in ensuring these decisions are effective, integrated and science-based.
		2. Leadership in geographic and spatial information.		1. Integrated information to improve land and resource decision-making.		• Percentage of land and resource data sets loaded into the Land and Resource Data Warehouse.
				2. Client focused delivery of information services.		• Percentage of clients covered by service agreements satisfied with land information services.
				3. Transformed business delivering improved information services.		• Amount of cost recovery, cost reduction, cost avoidance and grants/contributions through partnerships.
		3. Sound governance of land and resource management.		1. Corporate policies and legislation that address government priorities for sustainable economic development.		• Regulatory requirements maintained at or below June 2004 baseline.
				2. A framework for sustainable resource management that informs policy and performance management.		• Number of new formal activities established with external stakeholders that demonstrate and promote key elements of sustainability.
				3. Contaminated sites on provincial lands are managed through a consistent, informed, priority-based process.		• Number of known provincial contaminated sites which have been inventoried.

(Supporting resource-based sustainable development, diversification and maintenance of environmental integrity through land and resource planning decisions, increased First Nations' economic participation, and improved decision frameworks).

In support of this goal the ministry pursues three objectives. The first two deal with land and resource management planning. Strategic-level land-use plans, which include Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs), identify on a broad scale where land and resources may be developed for economic activity (objective 1). Operational plans (objective 2) are more detailed in scope and are generally referred to as Sustainable Resource Management Plans (SRMPs). Priorities have been set for preparation of both strategic and operational-level plans based on their expected economic impact in key sectors.

The ministry also achieves the resource planning aspects of its mission by serving as a central agent to support and enable integrated decision-making across all government agencies (objective 3). This integrated decision-making considers environmental, social and economic issues while striving to find ways for all uses to co-exist with less conflict.

Strategic-level plans and the implementation strategies that accompany them are the highest-level land and resource management plans government undertakes. Completion of strategic-level plans will help ensure resource management decisions take into account the needs of communities, the economy and the environment, as well as First Nation values and concerns, now and into the future.

Linked to these strategic-level plans, the ministry is working to implement the government's Working Forest policy to ensure that resource communities and the forest sector have a stable, sustainable land base to support investment and jobs while maintaining opportunities for conservation, other resource uses, and full public access to B.C. forests. Implementation of the policy will be achieved by retaining the existing Provincial Forest designation that covers about 75 million hectares of forested and non-forested Crown land; by completing and maintaining strategic-level plans; and by establishing resource targets for land areas supporting forestry and other uses and values, such as wildlife habitat.

Key strategies:

• complete Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands and Sea-to-Sky strategic land-use plans and consequent government-to-government negotiations
• ensure approval of strategic land-use plans
• oversee implementation and revision of strategic-level land-use plans to maintain effectiveness
• establish Working Forest resource targets.

Performance Measures:

Strategic-level plans completed and adopted: This measure identifies major, specific efforts to complete, approve and implement six priority strategic-level plans that facilitate access to, and use of, Crown lands and resources, particularly where competition between commercial and public interests for these resources is strong. These six plans will cover 12 per cent of the province, bringing to 85 per cent the area of British Columbia covered by approved strategic land-use plans.

Working Forest resource targets completed: This measure is an indicator, through resource targets, of the enhanced certainty being provided to resource users about the available land base in the Working Forest.

These finer-scale land-use plans and projects support specific resource-based economic opportunities being pursued by the ministry's partner agencies, with consequent economic and social benefits, while meeting environmental objectives.

Sustainable Resource Management Plans (SRMPs) define how Crown land and resources in the specified planning area will be used in the future. Their scope and planning boundaries are driven by the specific resource issues and opportunities under study (e.g., tourism opportunities, agricultural lands, access management, biodiversity requirements, community economic diversification and growth, and conflict resolution). Completion of SRMPs will involve consultation with interested First Nations and will contain policies and guidelines supporting sustainable resource management.

In addition to SRMPs, the ministry will undertake other specific initiatives under this objective, such as supporting amendments to government policies or legislation to ensure sustainable access to Crown land or resources for development.

Key strategies:

• undertake SRMPs to enable specific economic opportunities
• undertake specific projects, such as support for policy revisions, to meet strategic commitments and statutory obligations for the sustainable management of Crown lands and resources
• engage First Nations in land-use planning and the achievement of sustainable land and resource-based economic opportunities
• implement and maintain sub-regional plans.

Performance Measures:

Crown land identified for sale or tenure³: Through certain types of land and resource planning studies, the ministry improves Crown land access by identifying additional land available for sale or tenure. The provincial agency Land and Water BC, Inc. then conducts the allocation processes. Target achievement will enable greater economic opportunities in rural British Columbia.

Supporting results-based forestry: Specification of key biodiversity objectives in priority SRMPs required to support the Forest and Range Practices Act will allow implementation of results-based forestry and a reduction in regulation. This will lead to increased economic and social benefits while maintaining environmental integrity.

New SRMPs completed: This is an indicator of additional resource-based economic opportunities enabled by planning activities under this objective.

Effective sustainable resource management requires integrated decision-making that recognizes the use of a resource for one purpose can affect the management and use of other resources. For example, forests supply timber for the forest industry but also provide scenic values for tourism and communities, habitat for wildlife, sites for recreation, and vegetative cover for water quality and soil stability.

Decisions affecting Crown land and resources in British Columbia are delivered through a variety of agencies and mechanisms, including legal frameworks, policy statements, resource planning, and coordination processes. The ministry will build on this foundation so that decisions which affect resource management are effective, integrated and science-based.

Key strategies:

• chair regional Inter-agency Management Committees
• work with other agencies, departments and communities, through mechanisms such as sector Crown land and resource strategies, to identify priority projects
• undertake specific initiatives in support of integrated governmental decision-making
• undertake projects to resolve specific Crown land and resource management issues
• implement and coordinate federal/provincial resource policies and management agreements related to federal initiatives, such as the federal Species at Risk Act and the Oceans strategy
• refine and implement socio-economic and environmental assessment tools to support science-based decision-making.

Performance Measure:

Client satisfaction with ministry leadership of land and resource planning decisions: The ministry's leadership in this field can be most directly and regularly assessed by the organizations with which it works and the stakeholders to whom it endeavours to deliver benefits. The views of these clients on whether this is effective, integrated and science-based will be supplemented from time to time by independent, third-party assessments.

(Serving the people of BC through leadership in geographic and spatial information.)

Land Information BC provides a coordinated, cost effective and collaborative approach to addressing geographic and spatial information needs in support of informed decision-making. Access will be faster, the quality of information will be higher, and information will be geographically referenced. As a consequence of this improved access to land and resource information, clients and staff will be able to make decisions more rapidly and with reduced risk. This will help improve B.C.'s business and investment climate.

Land Information BC offers information collection and capture, information management and access, and decision-support services. Through its Client Council and other steering committees, Land Information BC ensures its partner ministries and agencies are directly involved in the planning, priority setting and decision-making concerning information services.

This objective is focused on coordinated science-based collection and capture of land, resource and geographic information that can be integrated easily in a flexible manner in order to inform a wide spectrum of decisions across different subject areas, management levels, locations and time frames.

Key strategies:

• manage and deliver data fundamental to government and client business
• address legacy data
• clean data and address data quality issues based on priorities
• apply standards to suit business needs.

Performance Measure:

Loading the Land and Resource Data Warehouse: The data warehouse contains data sets⁴ identified by clients as a priority. Integration of these priority data sets around common attributes is a key project for the ministry and our clients. Progress is measured against a baseline data-set number of 132 from 2001/02.

Enhancing client success and loyalty is central to achieving the highest possible benefits for B.C. This will be achieved through focused service offerings, alignment of expectations, delivery of distinctive value and personal treatment in an environment of innovation and continuous improvement.

Key strategies:

• work with clients to refine our core business
• deliver products and services that maximize value to clients
• implement new business processes to ensure a client-focused organization
• measure client satisfaction and act on client feedback.

Performance Measure:

Client satisfaction with land information services: Annual surveys measure improvement against the 2003/04 baseline of 46% client satisfaction. This measure is focused on those clients with service agreements with Land Information BC.

Transforming the ministry's delivery of information services, through partnerships and other business re-alignments and through innovations like electronic service delivery, helps focus the ministry and its partners on what we each do best. This in turn delivers tangible services benefits and reduced costs.

Key strategies:

• implement new, more efficient, client-focused business practices, processes and tools
• improve data management in government through communicating roles and responsibilities for data custodians
• develop and maintain partnerships with other governments, industry, academia and other organizations
• migrate to electronic service delivery.

Performance Measure:

Partnership benefits: The ministry's overall cost recovery from partnerships with other governments, industry and academia provides an indicator of partnership benefits.

(Principles, policies and legislation to guide sustainable resource management.)

The ministry leads the development of strategic principles, policies and legislation to guide resource planning, tenuring, disposal and pricing to ensure the optimal use of Crown land and other resources.

The ministry also sets strategic policies concerning property assessment and oversees the effective management of contaminated sites on provincial land. Ministry policies impact on Land and Water British Columbia Inc., BC Assessment and the Agricultural Land Commission and, to a lesser extent, on other natural resource ministries.

These principles, policies and legislation are expected to improve certainty of access to land and other resources, reduce conflict regarding natural resource use, accelerate and expand economic development opportunities and provide better support to government and industry decision-makers.

Strategic land and water policy and legislation supports the ministry's strategic resource-planning strategies under Goal 1 as well as the tenure-allocation processes of other agencies, such as Land and Water BC. Strategies under this objective will also result in more streamlined regulatory processes through a shift to performance-based regulation and removal of outmoded regulations.

In particular, the ministry will ensure land and resources are allocated to their optimal use with regard to economic, social and environmental values. Additionally, the ministry will work to reduce land-use conflict between resource users and increase investment certainty in the resource sector. Other strategies concerning the pricing of Crown resources will assist achievement of an effective, efficient and fair return for their use. Training and other forms of support to property assessment appeal processes will help ensure fairness of property assessments.

Key strategies:

• develop corporate strategies and legislation for the effective governance of Crown land and water resources
• identify on-going regulatory reduction and regulatory reform opportunities
• lead the development of strategic property assessment policies and legislation
• manage the annual Property Assessment Review Panel process.

Performance Measure:

Reducing the regulatory burden: The ministry's continued success in adhering to regulatory reform will be indicated by this government-wide measure.

By implementing the strategies under this objective, the ministry will: help ensure the sustainability of its strategic-level policies and plans; promote sustainability outside of the ministry; and develop performance planning, reporting and evaluation strategies to ensure its performance is effective, efficient, accountable and risk-managed.

Key strategies:

• incorporate the governance principles for sustainability within the ministry
• advance thinking and practice about sustainability outside of the ministry
• provide advice on sustainability and environmental strategies associated with the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games⁵
• represent the ministry in key intergovernmental initiatives
• lead development and implementation of improved performance measures, an enterprise-wide risk management process, an improved performance-tracking system and a performance-management culture.

Performance Measure:

Demonstrating and promoting sustainability: This measure concerns the number of specific formal actions — such as workshops, reports or agreements — advanced by the ministry, in cooperation with external partners, to promote the sustainable management of B.C.'s resources.

Achievement of this objective will ensure that, within limited resources, contaminated sites are chosen for remediation to address the greatest public health and environmental risks and then released for productive use. The ministry was assigned the lead on this issue early in 2003 to address the recommendations of the 2002 Auditor General's Report on Managing Contaminated Sites on Provincial Lands.

There are two parts to the ministry program addressing the objective. The first involves managing the program and Cabinet-approved policy concerning provincial contaminated sites for which various provincial agencies have responsibility.

Key strategies:

• inventory, classify and prioritize known provincial contaminated sites using a risk-based approach
• coordinate funding requests and site investigations to address the province's highest priority sites
• implement accountability and reporting requirements related to these sites.

Part two concerns the effective management of individual contaminated sites for which the ministry is responsible.

Key strategy:

• Oversee remediation of significant, historic contaminated sites such as the Britannia Mine and Pacific Place.

Performance Measure:

Cross-ministry program implementation: The measure indicates progress being made in entering information on known provincial contaminated sites into an inventory database. Current estimates are that there are upwards of 2,000 such sites.