Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results

Overview

Bureau Goals

Goal 1: Citizen-Centred delivery of natural resource application and information services. This goal sets the bureau on a course to provide all British Columbians with single-point-of-contact services concerning natural resources that integrate resource information and access to a wide range of authorizations such as permits, licences, Crown land tenures, sales and grants. Achievement of this goal will support the government-wide priority to provide better services to British Columbians, help reduce the regulatory burden and result in responsible economic development while respecting social and environmental values.

Goal 2: Sustainable natural resource management through streamlined planning, coordination and decision-making. This goal focuses the core businesses of the bureau on achieving an effective balance between conserving environmental values, promoting the vitality and diversity of communities and furthering economic development. Several bureau functions are particularly involved in achieving this goal. Land and resource-use planning conducted at varied scales is one tool for which the bureau now has responsibility. The bureau also provides strategic leadership and corporate coordination of programs for the recovery and management of some broad-ranging species-at-risk assigned to it. These planning, coordination and decision-making processes are being reviewed and streamlined to improve their effectiveness and efficiency and to ensure they further the New Relationship with First Nations.¹³

13	This is being undertaken jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.

 

Goal 3: Integrated land and resource information. Widely available, high quality, correctly interpreted and easy-to-understand information is key to effective, efficient, balanced and equitable planning and management of Crown land and resources. Integration of resource information from various sources and its effective delivery are key to achieving these ends, and the bureau has a pivotal role to play. The bureau manages and provides natural resource information to external users and to internal provincial natural resource managers. This goal also recognizes the bureau’s role in providing corporate leadership and overall governance of land and resource information for all of government.

Linkage to the Five Great Goals

The bureau directly assists and supports the effective delivery of Goals 4 and 5 of the province’s Five Great Goals for a Golden Decade. These two goals are identified below along with a brief description of the bureau’s key supporting initiatives.

The bureau’s land and resource management planning, client-centred natural resource authorization access services, access to Crown land, and resource information services provide significant opportunities to balance responsible economic and community development with proactive mechanisms to achieve a sustainable environment. These functions directly support government’s goal of world-leading sustainable environmental management.

The bureau’s contribution to a number of cross ministry initiatives will also provide support to Goal 4 (see next section for details). In summary, these are:

• development of recovery plans for broad-ranging species-at-risk;
• landscape-level and sustainable resource management planning:
• planning that can result in the establishment of legal objectives required to implement the Forest and Range Practices Act (Goals 4 and 5);
• land and resource management planning with First Nations:
• strategic land and resource management planning that furthers the New Relationship with First Nations (Goals 4 and 5);
• integrated resource information management:
• by improving access to land and resource information, the bureau facilitates timely and transparent natural resource decision-making for business, governments and the public (Goals 4 and 5);
• Mountain Pine Beetle planning initiatives in impacted areas; and
• planning and provision of Crown land to support the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (Goals 4 and 5).

All of the bureau’s major functions support this government goal by fostering greater investment confidence and responsible economic development.

• the bureau provides integrated, timely, lower cost and more certain access to Crown land and resources through:
• FrontCounter BC single-point-of-contact offices for clients seeking access to natural resources;
• land and resource management planning activities; and
• improved access to land and resource information.
• First Nations involvement, consultation and accommodation enhances their participation in the provincial economy through the development and implementation of land and resource-use plans and recovery plans for broad-ranging species-at-risk that will improve investment certainty; and
• the bureau will ensure further economic development while respecting social and environmental values by providing access to Crown land through a range of tenure mechanisms and strategic Crown land sales and grants.

The bureau will also support this government goal by facilitating strategic land and resource management planning through:

• finalizing the “First Nation to Province” government-to-government negotiations phase of six key strategic land use plans and presenting the final plans to government for decision;
• beginning to scope the terms of reference for an Atlin-Taku planning process with First Nations; and
• finalizing the Dease-Liard sustainable resource management plan with First Nations.

Cross Ministry Initiatives

The provincial government has identified priorities for action that will require concerted efforts across government. Several of these initiatives and the bureau’s contributions are listed below.

Citizen-Centred Service Delivery

• government is committed to “improving the delivery of public services to make them more accessible, easier to deal with and more responsive to individuals and communities”;¹⁴
• as part of this wider government initiative, the bureau, on behalf of several resource ministries, will be providing FrontCounter BC services from a number of regional centres for clients seeking information and assistance in making applications for natural resource permits, licences, approvals and Crown land tenures, sales and grants. These services will be available on a multi-channel basis to all British Columbians;
• the bureau will champion, with the Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services and natural resource management agencies, the development of cooperative information technology and information systems for land and resource information and natural resource authorization management; and
• the bureau will also be working with the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue to ensure linkages between natural resource authorization processes and deregulation initiatives.

14	B.C. Government Strategic Plan Update 2005/06–2007/08, September 2005, p. 35.

Species-at-Risk Coordination and Priority Setting

• the bureau is developing corporate recovery plans for broad-ranging, globally significant species-at-risk (Marbled Murrelet, Mountain Caribou and Northern Spotted Owl) to address population declines and provide resource-use certainty;
• the bureau’s Species-at-Risk Coordination Office (SaRCO) will be working with other ministries, such as Environment, and Forests and Range, on the review and assessment of the Forest and Range Practices Act Identified Wildlife Management Strategy. As well, review of the Old Growth Management Area orders may be required in some areas to implement management decisions for some species-at-risk (e.g., Marbled Murrelet);
• approved strategic land use plans may need to be evaluated for their contribution to managing species-at-risk. Incremental management decisions will need to be integrated with existing land and resource plans through Inter-Agency Management Committee-led plan review and amendment processes; and
• management of species-at-risk is traditionally a Ministry of Environment-led function. The vast majority of the science-supporting implementation tasks and actions to address species-at-risk are accomplished cooperatively with leadership from the Ministry of Environment. However, government has recognized that actions and resources required to address broad-ranging species-at-risk need to be coordinated and corporate in nature. The bureau has been mandated to develop recovery plans for broad-ranging species at risk on behalf of the agencies to which it provides service.

2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games: Showcase the province on a global basis, celebrate provincial accomplishments and create lasting economic opportunities for B.C.

• the bureau is providing corporate leadership through the Sea-to-Sky Coordination Strategy to ensure First Nations, community, business and environmental interests are adequately addressed so that Olympic venues can be constructed on time and on budget;
• representatives of the 2010 Olympic VANOC committee will be included in the activities and recovery proposals and options that SaRCO is working on with respect to the Northern Spotted Owl, one of the key broad-ranging species-at-risk in the Whistler area;
• the bureau will ensure that Sea-to-Sky strategic land use planning incorporates the interests of First Nations, is endorsed by government and is successfully implemented;
• the bureau will facilitate inter-agency coordination through the Sea-to-Sky Working Group by supporting Olympic-related developments through the provision of Crown land, Nordic venue trails asssessment, agreements on highway development, and supporting the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation in the delivery of the Shared Legacies Agreement; and
• the bureau will also work with Canada to assist with planning Olympic event security.

New Relationship with First Nations

• in partnership with the Ministries of Agriculture and Lands; Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation; Environment; Forests and Range; Tourism, Sport and the Arts; and Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, the bureau will lead, develop and implement a revised land use planning framework which incorporates and supports the New Relationship initiative;
• the bureau will also conduct consultations and negotiate accommodations with First Nations to provide responsible Crown land development that furthers high-priority provincial initiatives, such as the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games;
• the bureau will assist First Nations in incorporating their interests into strategic land and resource management plans, either directly at planning tables or through government to government forums, to reconcile First Nation interests and their land use plans with provincial objectives; and
• the bureau will also engage with First Nations in the implementation and review of strategic land use plans using models that build on past successful co-governance models, such as the Central Regional (i.e., Clayoquot) and Muskwa-Kechika advisory boards. (See Goal 2, Objective 3, p. 58.)
• SaRCO develops options for recovery of broad-ranging species-at-risk. These options intersect with many First Nations issues, including treaty, cooperative resource management and Aboriginal harvesting rights. First Nations interest assessment, consultation and accommodation continues to be a critical function within the bureau. All options developed will be informed by these consultations.

Support the efforts of the Ministry of Forests and Range to address Mountain Pine Beetle and its destructive effects on communities and resource and environmental values

The bureau will support the Ministry of Forests and Range through the following strategies concerning land and resource-use planning and information:

• review and update approved strategic land and resource-use plans in areas impacted by Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) to ensure that all plan requirements, including timber availability, tourism, road access development and habitat conservation values are addressed to the greatest extent possible given the scale of the epidemic while facilitating new economic development opportunities;
• provide better opportunities in impacted areas for community and stakeholder involvement in plan review and implementation activities by establishing or revitalizing plan implementation committees;
• consistent with the evolving New Relationship with First Nations, provide opportunities for First Nations to participate in strategic land and resource management plan reviews and implementation in MPB-impacted areas; and
• establish clear, quantified land and resource-use objectives that reflect the revised plan objectives so as to guide Forest and Range Practices Act planning and other forest industry developed operational plans;
• provide base mapping standards and quality control for new ortho-imagery and air photography to identify wildfire stands and Mountain Pine Beetle-damaged stands as part of planning support to:
• salvage activities;
• silviculture activity scheduling and monitoring; and
• timber supply reviews.
• incorporate disturbances on the land into base maps (TRIM).

Cross-Government Management: Inter-Agency Management and Regional Managers Committees

Successful implementation of government’s strategic directions and priorities for resource management requires a collaborative and coordinated approach within a cross ministry structure. This approach is occurring at the executive level through the Deputy Ministers’ Committee on Natural Resources and the Economy and at the Deputy Ministers’ Committee on Integrated Land Management. The latter committee essentially serves as the advisory Board of Directors for the Integrated Land Management Bureau.

There is a similar regional inter-ministry governance structure, with each major B.C. region and sub-region having a bureau-led and managed Inter-Agency Management Committee (IAMC). The IAMCs and Sub-regional Managers Committees provide the regional-level forum through which the agencies consult, cooperate and integrate their respective functions to deliver government’s resource management programs. The committees also develop regional strategic plans to address the major cross ministry land and resource-use issues.

Cross-Government Management: Base Mapping

Base mapping services provide critical map data utilized by all sectors of the economy, including mining, oil and gas exploration, forestry, utilities and transportation. It is a critical foundation geographic tool that is essential for resource management, other provincial government services such as emergency response, community planning and development, and First Nations treaty development. The bureau is:

• maintaining base mapping in the province and leading governance-level engagement through the Corporate Base Mapping Advisory Committee (CBMAC) to ensure that the common base map is maintained and adapted to new information, is responsive to the needs of all users, and is used appropriately to integrate other land and resource information (e.g., “registered” information such as mineral or Crown land tenures, resource information in the Land and Resource Data Warehouse such as habitat information for key species or watershed boundaries that is referenced to the base map, etc.);
• developing and maintaining Standard Operating Procedures for any mapping initiative that may have a base or resource information requirement. The SOP ensures proper standards are utilized in the mapping initiative so as to permit base components to be updated effectively, avoid duplication of effort and ensure all can share and exchange map products built on a common platform; and
• championing a service orientation with all provincial ministries, communities and users so that base-mapping products are integrated into their business practices and operational environments.

Cross-Government Management: Critical Land and Resource Information Management

The bureau is the key agency managing a wide suite of land and resource information that is provincial in scope and necessary for responsible resource development and many other aspects of a modern society. Often unheralded, this information is critical and maintenance of it essential to allow for responsible resource and community development.

The bureau manages:

• fundamental aspects and standards of the Global Positioning System to allow for effective and efficient use of this geo-referencing tool in the fields of resource management, planning, engineering, surveying, etc.;
• the provincial system of survey control points and GPS active control stations;
• the Integrated Cadastral Fabric the result of a partnership between the provincial government and local government that provides an integrated and geo-referenced link between privately owned property and Crown land;
• the ortho-imagery and air photography library and related services; and
• the Integrated Land and Resource Registry a coordinated web-based access tool to a library of 250 different legal land and resource tenures, licences and leases.

Performance Plan

This section outlines how each of the bureau’s nine objectives, its strategies, and seven performance measures and targets help achieve the bureau’s three goals. The performance measures are mostly at the goal level but in some cases are at the objective level. For simplicity, they have been placed at the end of the description of each goal, its objectives and strategies.

In striving to achieve this goal, the bureau will provide its clients in both urban and rural areas with responsive and timely services concerning natural resources that integrate resource information and access to a wide range of authorizations previously provided by many ministries and agencies. FrontCounter BC offices will provide integrated, single point of-contact services for clients seeking access to land and resource information, permits, licences, approvals and Crown land tenures, sales and grants in each region of the province. Offices will be maintained in Nanaimo, Surrey, Cranbrook, Kamloops, Nelson, Williams Lake, Prince George, Smithers and Fort St. John.

Citizens and the businesses community expect public services that are timely, accessible, transparent and efficient and provided by knowledgeable, courteous staff. Bureau clients have indicated a need for single-point-of-contact service for natural resources that ensures accurate up-front information, full disclosure of the steps and costs they face to proceed, reduced runaround time between agencies and the streamlining of application processes. These clients also expect the convenience of multiple access options. Achieving the objective will ensure that the bureau’s FrontCounter BC services are strongly citizen-driven with a consequent impact on all its business under Goal 1 and, indeed, its other goals.

Key Strategies:

• co-locate regional bureau staff with other natural resource ministries and/or government agents where possible;
• enhance accessibility by providing multi-channel service delivery (face-to-face, telephone, fax, email, mail and web-based);
• implement full¹⁵ FrontCounter BC services at specified locations using a staged approach concluding in 2007/08 that provides opportunities to select and train staff and implement new authorization tracking and management systems;
• tailor the services and delivery method at each FrontCounter BC location to the specific needs of the public and business community in that area;
• provide professional, knowledgeable, FrontCounter BC support to clients applying for, or seeking guidance about natural resource-related tenures, permits, licences, Crown grants, sales and information;
• ensure FrontCounter BC services are provided in a fair and transparent manner;
• market bureau services to business, communities and the public;
• modify the FrontCounter BC business model over the plan period based on an evaluation of differing strategies being pursued in different locations, as well as the demand for services;
• in collaboration with client ministries, develop service agreements, monitor performance measures and targets and champion innovative business strategies that continue to improve services to clients;
• work with other provincial natural resource agencies and levels of government to streamline authorization application processes and IT/IM systems, implement deregulation initiatives and achieve seamless delivery of natural resource authorization services.

15	Full implementation will be dependent on successful review of the pilot project in Kamloops.

The objective is focused specifically on how the bureau will manage Land Act adjudications for Crown land tenures, sales and grants on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. The bureau pursues this objective in order to meet the Crown land needs of communities and First Nations while supporting the province’s economic development goals. Applications for Crown land access will continue to be required to meet guidelines aimed at ensuring balance, respect for environmental values, transparency and other factors.¹⁶ Processing timeliness on Land Act applications and file adjudication is a key requirement of British Columbians, particularly the business community.

Key Strategies:

• actively support and respond to First Nations and community development opportunities and growth in new and emerging regional business sectors;
• ensure Crown land tenuring, sales and grants are undertaken in a timely and balanced manner to ensure conservation of environmental values, development and implementation of the New Relationship with First Nations, protection of social and community values, promotion of economic development and transparency of the process; and
• build market-based partnerships with the business community, local governments and First Nations.

Performance Measures:¹⁷

Reduction in the time for applicants to receive a decision from the bureau on applications for authorizations adjudicated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands: This measure will reflect the success of FrontCounter BC in assisting businesses and individuals to prepare more complete applications for natural resource use authorizations and in streamlining the processes in other ways so that less time is required by Ministry of Agriculture and Lands adjudication staff to review and decide on applications.

Timely processing of applications for new Crown land use authorizations under the Land Act by the bureau and the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands: This measure specifically addresses the timeliness of application processing from the time a client’s application is accepted and fees received to the notification of an adjudication result and/or offer of a Crown land tenure or sale from the bureau to the client.

16	Existing guidelines for adjudicating Crown land applications will be reviewed and amended where necessary. Adherence to these guidelines will be ensured through monitoring and auditing processes.
17	Performance information on all bureau measures comes from internal sources.

1	Bureau’s FrontCounter BC offices will assist clients by providing information and in preparation of applications for permits, licences, approvals and Crown tenures and grants. Decisions on authorizations will, in most cases, be made by decision-makers in one of the host ministries for which the bureau provides FrontCounter BC services.
2	This is the same measure as used by the former Land and Water British Columbia Inc. (LWBC). The base is the same as for the first measure; that is, applications to the bureau for new authorizations adjudicated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. The median measures the number of days of processing time within which 50 per cent of the applications in the year were processed. It is therefore capable of measuring the reduction in processing time due to FrontCounter BC activities.

This goal focuses the core businesses of the bureau on achieving an effective balance between conserving environmental values, promoting the vitality and diversity of communities and furthering economic development. Such balance is vital if the well-being of the province’s citizens is to be maximized in perpetuity. Four bureau activities are particularly involved in achieving this goal:

• strategic land and resource-use planning conducted at various scales and involving extensive stakeholder and First Nations consultation as well as negotiations on a government-to-government basis with First Nations;
• leadership of provincial and regional scale inter-agency committees and other activities aimed at integrating decision-making and regional program delivery across all government natural resource agencies;¹⁸
• strategic leadership and corporate coordination of programs for the recovery and management of some broad-ranging species-at-risk assigned to it; and
• reviewing these first three activities to ensure they contribute to, and build on, the New Relationship with First Nations, as well as streamlining them to improve their effectiveness and efficiency.

Each of these activities should result in reduced resource-use conflicts, improved certainty in the use of Crown natural resources, improved environmental sustainability and more efficient delivery of these outcomes.

18	These integration efforts support the leadership of the Government Caucus Committee on Natural Resources and the Economy and the Deputy Ministers’ Committee on Natural Resources and the Economy.

The bureau is tasked by government and the natural resource management agencies it serves to facilitate completion and finalization of strategic land and resource management plans and to consult and engage First Nations throughout the planning process. Strategic level plans and the implementation strategies that accompany them are the highest level land and resource management plans undertaken by government. Finalization of these 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.

Key Strategies:

• advance from the stage of “Province to First Nation” government-to-government negotiations to the implementation of the Central Coast, North Coast, Lillooet, Morice, Sea-to-Sky and Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands strategic land and resource-use management plans;
• oversee implementation and revision of approved strategic-level land and resource-use management plans to maintain their effectiveness;
• review and update strategic land and resource management plans in areas impacted by Mountain Pine Beetle as increased logging of killed timber has in most cases affected the timber supply projections on which these plans were based. This strategy will also assist in increasing public awareness of this important issue;
• review and amend land and resource-use planning processes to make these processes more efficient and to involve First Nations on a government-to-government basis, thus furthering the New Relationship with First Nations;
• lead regionally based Inter-Agency Management Committees to coordinate government interests in the management of provincial natural resources;
• establish and facilitate strategic land and resource plan implementation committees (PICs) to maintain community and stakeholder involvement in the plans; and
• publicly communicate the provisions and benefits of each of these strategic land and resource-use plans and, more generally, the benefits of balanced utilization of natural resources in collaboration with work under other objectives and programs.

Sustainable resource management plans (SRMPs²⁰) that support economic development and/or address resource-use conflicts are also important to achieving Goal 2. These plans are prepared at a finer scale and identify where and how land and resources should be managed to promote resource-use certainty, economic activity and to sustain environmental values, including maintaining critical habitat for specific species and identifying areas for commercial and public recreation. Their scope and planning boundaries are driven by these specific resource issues, conflicts and opportunities under study. Completion of SRMPs will involve partnerships and consultation with interested First Nations and will contain policies and guidelines supporting sustainable resource management.

In addition to SRMPs, the bureau 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. As well, the bureau will continue to develop stakeholder-endorsed implementation criteria to support plan implementation.

 

19	Land use planning aspects of this core business are supported by the Forest Investment Account and, in particular, the Crown Land Planning Enhancement Program, for which the bureau has delegated responsibility.
20	SRMPs include a number of specific plan types, including local strategic plans, recreation conflict management plans, oil and gas pre-tenure plans, economic opportunity plans and coastal plans. Some other ministries develop resource plans, but these are lower-level plans that are more operational in nature and focused on delivering a specific program. They cover a much smaller area than LRMPs, SRMPs or regional land use plans, and tend to focus on a specific activity. Examples include park management plans, fire management plans and forest health plans.

Key Strategies:

• establish legal objectives for Old Growth Management Areas and other biological targets that are consistent with approved land and resource management plans — thereby supporting implementation of the Forest and Range Practices Act; and
• set priorities for sustainable resource management planning within available resources to support government requirements and requests from clients.

Under this objective the bureau will seek greater engagement of First Nations in land and resource-use planning, with particular emphasis on the strategic level. The New Relationship — Vision and Principles document makes clear that land and resources are vital to First Nations. It commits both parties to “mutually develop …[amongst other things], integrated intergovernmental structures and policies to promote co-operation, including practical and workable arrangements for land and resource decision making and sustainable development” (p.3). The first item in the New Relationship action plan is to “develop new institutions and structures to negotiate Government-to-Government Agreements for shared decision making regarding land use planning, management, tenuring and resource revenue and benefit sharing” (p.4).

The bureau will work with the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, and First Nations bodies to develop these new institutions and structures. It will be an evolving process. In the meantime, continued and improved engagement of First Nations in the provincial land and resource-use planning processes will be an important indicator of New Relationship implementation.

Key Strategies:

• consistent with the New Relationship, engage First Nations in land and resource management planning by undertaking a number of exploratory initiatives which build on existing relationships in government-to-government forums and, where appropriate, at regional or local planning tables and committees;
• in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MAL) and Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation (MARR), develop more effective mechanisms to fulfil the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate for Land Act dispositions;
• assist MARR with negotiating accommodation on high-priority plans and projects; and
• assist MARR with cross-government coordination of New Relationship implementation in the resources sector through regional Inter-Agency Management and Sub-regional Managers Committees.

The bureau’s successful pursuit of this objective should improve the chances and/or rate of recovery of species-at-risk and Crown land resource access as well as reduce resource-use conflicts. This will improve resource-use certainty, community stability and environmental sustainability with consequent benefits to all sectors of the provincial resource economy and to the public at large.

To achieve these outcomes the bureau will work with the Ministry of Environment and other natural resource ministries in the development of an outcome-based, coordinated, scientifically credible and defensible approach to the management and recovery of species-at-risk in B.C.

The bureau’s principal focus will be on coordinating:

• the development of thorough options for management and recovery of B.C.’s complement of globally significant, broad-ranging species-at-risk; and
• corporate investments in recovering species-at-risk and their critical habitats.

The aim of this coordination will be to ensure that not only biodiversity, but also social and economic values, importance to First Nations, and technical feasibility of management and recovery are taken into account to achieve desired outcomes.

Key Strategies:

• work across provincial government agencies, with First Nations, communities and key stakeholders to develop a proposed policy and fiscal framework for prioritizing and coordinating the management of species-at-risk and the ecosystems on which they depend;²¹ and
• work with key provincial agencies, First Nations and non-government stakeholders to develop recovery options for three key broad-ranging species — Mountain Caribou, Northern Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet — and bring forward these options to government for decision ²².

21	The bureau will develop a corporate “Made-in-B.C.” approach to address the management of broad-ranging species-at-risk. The current legislative framework creates an overly prescriptive regulatory regime which may position recovery efforts and resources in a direction counter to B.C.’s broader interests and to the detriment of B.C.’s complement of globally significant species. The proposed framework will enable B.C. to assume a firm jurisdictional presence in the management of species–at–risk and allow for recovery decision-making more clearly aligned with government corporate direction and B.C.’s global conservation priorities.
22	The population of these three critical species continues to decline despite extensive attention and significant expenditure over the last decade. Clear, practical decisions need to be made in a timely way to address population declines and bring land and resource-use certainty to other resource-based activities. In response to these challenges and those set out on page 39, the bureau is committed to consulting with a wide spectrum of government agencies, First Nations, industry, stakeholders and the public on recovery and management options and recommendations for each of the three species. All recommendations going forward to government for decision will be corporate — all government agencies will fully endorse the recommendations. Lastly, the bureau will provide a transparent process for producing well-thought out and fully analyzed options to government for decision.

Performance Measures:

Percentage of British Columbia covered by strategic land use plans: Existing land and resource management plans (LRMPs), regional plans and other strategic-level land use plans cover 73 per cent of the province. The six plans under development (Central Coast, North Coast, Lillooet, Morice, Sea-to-Sky and Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands) together cover approximately 12 per cent of the province. This measure therefore tracks progress in advancing these plans to the implementation stage and providing the benefits of such strategic plans across the province.

Percentage of British Columbia covered by strategic land use plans revised to address the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation: This measure assesses the progress of amending LRMPs and regional land use plans in forested areas impacted by the Mountain Pine Beetle. Updates are required in order to secure future economic development opportunities and to maintain public support for the plans and the timber salvage program.

First Nations engagement in strategic land use plans: This measure will indicate the percentage of strategic land use plans under development or revision in which the bureau has achieved the engagement of First Nations in their preparation, either at the planning table stage or in subsequent government-to-government negotiations or both. It is a basic measure of the New Relationship as it applies to natural resource management.

Percentage of recovery plans for assigned, broad-ranging species-at-risk which have been brought forward to government for decision: This measure indicates the progress made in developing and presenting to government recovery plans for key, broad-ranging species-at-risk that require broad, cross-government action and leadership. For this reason they have been assigned to the Species-at-Risk Coordination Office. The currently assigned species for which recovery plans are to be brought forward to government for decision are Mountain Caribou, Northern Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet. Additional species or sub species may be added in 2006/07.

1	Specified plans are those that have been developed or revised since 2004/05, or are under development or revision and have completed the planning table stage.

Integration of resource information from various sources and its effective delivery is key to achieving the effective, efficient and balanced management of Crown land and resources. The bureau has a pivotal role to play in this task. The bureau manages and provides natural resource information to external users such as other governments, businesses, communities, industry and the public and to other provincial ministries and agencies. The bureau also provides corporate leadership and overall governance across the province concerning standards, systems and pricing for the management, storage and delivery of land and resource information. It is also responsible for providing base-mapping products and related services that assist all sectors of the economy.

Growth in the provision of spatially referenced information to both the public and to government clients is seen as a key performance measure for this goal. It captures the significance of integration and delivery, as well as the importance of the bureau’s base mapping function.

This objective is one of two concerning the effective management and delivery of resource information to clients under Goal 3. It concerns resource information managed and delivered across the provincial government and on a province-wide basis, largely through integrated web-based systems.²⁴ The same information, and local derivatives and analyses developed from it, is delivered regionally and is covered under Objective 2. Understanding and meeting the needs of clients is crucial to achieving this and the next objective. Growth in the utilization of services will be used as a measure of the extent to which the bureau has satisfied client needs; other performance measures will be explored during 2006/07.

23	Includes base mapping, registry, air and ortho-photography, survey control points, global positioning systems support, geographical (place) names and related resource information.
24	These include the Land and Resource Data Warehouse and the Integrated Land and Resource Registry.

Key Strategies:

• improve the marketing of corporate resource information services to both internal and external clients through better communication and consultation. The intent is to ensure products and services provided are client driven and meet client needs. This strategy will help to ensure the bureau focuses on clients and builds its products and services in response to their feedback;
• manage and deliver information and related products and services fundamental to government, industry, business and public needs. The aim is to provide a “public” information service, not just a “government” information service;
• work closely with regional clients to understand their information needs and help them achieve business goals;
• manage and maintain land and resource data holdings. This is to ensure that the provincial data the bureau is responsible for are adequately maintained to meet both government and public needs. Within this scope is base-mapping data, warehoused information and repository (catalogue and related metadata) information;
• communicate the bureau’s responsibilities and provide internal and external clients with value-added information and support; and
• deliver self-service Internet web-based access and analytical tools that meet client needs.

Bureau regional staff deliver the same land and resource information, and local derivatives and analyses developed from it, as under Objective 1. They do this through FrontCounter BC offices as well as in information packages to support strategic and land and resource-use planning projects. Providing effective land and resource information, services and related analysis results in more fully informed regional clients, better decision-making and reduced application processing times.

Key Strategies:

• support regionally managed land and resource planning projects;
• provide resource information and associated maps to regional clients;
• undertake analyses concerning natural resources for business or individual clients using geographic and other information systems; and
• coordinate regional land and resource data collection issues, including setting standards, performing quality control, liaising with information providers and building land and resource information partnerships.

This is the objective for the bureau’s programs focused on providing overall governance across the province concerning standards, systems and pricing for the collection, storage and delivery of land and resource information.

Key Strategies:

• establish a sector-level Land and Resource Information Council with membership from government, industry and the public to address business, information and system issues/needs from a sector-level perspective;
• improve public access to provincial land and resource information by establishing a single gateway to resource sector information products and services;
• improve the usability of land and resource information products and services by establishing the necessary common information policy, standards, procedures and best business practices that are needed to ensure data from different sources can be integrated;
• continue to manage the provincial Land and Resource Data Warehouse and associated catalogue; and
• work closely with partners to champion cross-government approaches, integrate existing information technology and management (IT/IM) applications and coordinate development of new IT/IM systems being used to manage land and resource information.

Performance Measure:

Growth in the utilization of land and resource data, information and related products by public and government clients: This is an indicator of the usefulness of the land and resource services to the bureau’s clients. The measure uses an extensively accessed resource information tool, images generated by iMapBC, as a proxy indicator of the growth in overall utilization of land and resource information provided by the bureau.²⁵ A growing list of resource information data sets and tools are being made available online to the public and iMapBC is representative of this trend.²⁶

Performance Measure	2005/06 Baseline	2006/07 Target	2007/08 Target	2008/09 Target
3.1. Percentage growth in the utilization of land and resource data, information and related products by public and government clients over 2005/06 base (using an extensively accessed resource information tool, iMapBC, as a proxy).	450,000 images	20% (540,000 images)	32% (594,000 images)	45% (653,000 images)

25	iMapBC is a web and map-based tool used to access information in the Land and Resource Data Warehouse. The measure represents the number of images iMapBC draws for users of the Land and Resource Data Warehouse. It is a popular means of accessing TRIM map sheets and other base layers as well as additional resource data layers so it is a reasonable proxy for the mapping and resource information aspects of the bureau’s business. iMapBC will be made available to the public in May 2006 and a consequent large growth in utilization in 2006/07 over 2005/06 is expected.
26	Currently some 57 per cent of the data sets in the Land and Resource Information Data base are downloadable by the public (62 per cent by partners who subscribe or who have contributed through data sharing agreements).

Bureau Performance Plan Summary