2002/03 Annual Service Plan Report Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management

Year-at-a-Glance Highlights

In its second year of existence, the ministry continued to develop its leadership role across government and to the public and private sectors on the sustainable economic development of British Columbia's land and resources. Significant events and key achievements of the year that further ministry and government goals include:

Sustainability Framework

• A set of 10 governance principles for sustainability was approved by Cabinet in May 2002 for stakeholder consultation. Revised principles are expected to be reviewed by Cabinet during the consideration of the Working Forest policy.

Land and Resource-Use Planning

• Phase 1 of the Besa-Prophet pre-tenure plan was approved allowing for exploration of natural gas reserves worth an estimated $2 billion in the area south of Fort Nelson.
• Significant progress has been made towards completion of Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs) for the Central Coast, North Coast, Morice and Sea-to-Sky regions.
• A framework agreement has been signed with the Haida Nation covering the conduct of the Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands LRMP. Work has commenced and is scheduled for completion by June 2004.
• Two coastal plans have been approved following consultation (North Island Straits and Baynes Sound). Each plan should reduce conflict over competing uses, create new partnerships and working relationships with local governments and increase investment and job opportunities.
• A discussion paper on the proposed Working Forest policy was released in January 2003. Public review and consultations concluded April 30, 2003. The proposal called for designating all Crown forested land in the province that is outside of protected areas and parks — about 45 million hectares, or 48 per cent of BC — as Working Forest. The designation would permit a broad range of uses including tourism, mining, ranching and recreation, while maintaining key environmental values to sustain the province's biodiversity.
• The Kootenay-Boundary Higher Level Plan was revised to maintain the continued viability of the region's forest sector.
• The Southern Rocky Mountains Sustainable Resource Management Plan has been completed and is now subject to consultation.
• A number of landscape level and sub-regional land-use plans have been completed which will allow the integration of resource-based tourism and recreation with existing resource industries, particularly forestry. For example, the Eight Peaks plan integrates back-country skiing with forestry in the Blue River area, while in the Cariboo region the Gold Rush Trail has been established for snowmobiles.

Heartlands Economic Development Strategies

• In accordance with the government's heartlands economic strategy, the ministry worked with relevant ministries to produce Crown land and resource access strategies for the minerals, oil and gas, and agriculture sectors aimed at fostering growth in these sectors.
• Five Tourism Opportunity Studies (TOS) were completed (Okanagan, Salmon Arm, Kamloops, Bonnington and Southern Rockies). TOS are information tools that will be used to identify, develop and promote appropriate, sustainable tourism development opportunities. (For TOS information, visit http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/dss/initiatives/tourism/tos/index.htm. For information on the Kamloops TOS, visit: http://www.venturekamloops.com/ecdevlibrary/tourism.htm.)

Land and Resource Information Integration

• Land Information BC has been launched as the vehicle for delivering integrated, science-based land, resource and geographic information to make possible informed decision-making by clients. This information will support economic development, sustainability of natural resources, and protection and promotion of a healthy environment.
• Access to information is being improved through development of systems designed to integrate and better deliver resource data. Fifteen integrated provincial data sets are now available through the data warehouse. Design and development of an electronic filing system (EFS) is well underway at Land Title Branch. As of March 31, 2003, the detailed design of the EFS system was completed and had progressed to production phase.
• A 5% reduction was achieved over the year in the number of corporate resource information systems across the provincial government. The target is a 30% reduction by the end of fiscal 2004/05.
• The Integrated Registries Project business case and business plan have been completed.

Partnerships

• Efforts to develop partnerships with industry, academia and the non-profit sector during the year led to estimated annual benefits of $6 million in cost recoveries, cost reductions and cost avoidance.

Pricing Policies

• Fee proposals were approved by Cabinet concerning land and water management programs, the Property Assessment Appeal Board, e-filing of land title documents and miscellaneous fees. All adhere to the government's key criteria of simplicity, improved cost recovery, consolidation and competitiveness. They will produce a small increase in fee revenue of approximately $1.2 million while supporting administrative improvements to provide greater efficiency and services to clients.

First Nations Issues

• A Provincial Policy for Consultation with First Nations was approved and implemented.
• The ministry has successfully negotiated over 90 protocol and other agreements with First Nations on economic development, land-use and resource management planning, data exchange and other matters, which will encourage investment and assist rural community development.

Performance-Based Regulation and Deregulation

• Legislative and policy changes developed and approved early in the year are leading to improved certainty of land access and tenure. Amendments to the Land Surveyors Act are an example. They involve a shift to a performance-based approach putting more reliance on accredited land surveyors, which is increasing the speed of land and tenure transactions while reducing the total cost to government.
• There has been a 12% reduction in the regulatory requirements administered by the ministry.
• Ministry assistance with the simplification of procedures and policy manuals of BC Assessment and Land and Water British Columbia Inc. (LWBC) has made application procedures for clients to these agencies more straightforward, contributing to a shortening of processing times and reduced costs.

Contaminated Sites

• As the designated provincial owner of Crown land and water, the ministry responded to the Auditor General's Report on Managing Contaminated Sites on Provincial Lands and also established the Crown Contaminated Sites Program.

Effective and Efficient Delivery of the Ministry's Services

• The Land Title Branch saw a 17% increase in the number of applications received and processed and a 13% increase in the number of all plans received and processed. In addition, branch revenue rose by 6% and the amount of property transfer tax collected increased by 30%. Operating costs were reduced by 16%.
• The number of distinct Internet users increased by 108% while the number of Internet pages requested grew by 155%. The number of intranet users increased by 33%.
• A shared service model for corporate services delivery (CSD) was successfully implemented with six client partners. It involved negotiated service level agreements, a partnership board and a ministry client satisfaction survey. The ministry was the first in the provincial government to accomplish this.
• Overall ministry operating expenditures were reduced by 4% compared to 2001/02.