NEXT PHASE OF LRMP STARTS WITH CELEBRATION

ALERT BAY – Eight chiefs from the KNT First Nations met with government officials in Alert Bay today to celebrate the next phase of the historic Central and North Coast Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs).

Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell and Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Tom Christensen joined the chiefs in the signing ceremony for the land use and protocol agreement that will incorporate First Nations’ culture, ecological and economic interests and allow the LRMP process to move forward.

“Land and Resource Management Plans play an important role in the New Relationship between government and First Nations,” said Bell. “We saw an unprecedented level of co-operation in developing the land use decisions for the Central Coast and North Coast. Today, that collaboration continues as we sign the government-to-government agreement and move forward with the framework for completing and implementing Land and Resource Management Plans for these areas.”

The government-to-government land use and protocol agreement includes the formation of Land and Resource Forums that allow the Province and the First Nations to work together to finalize and implement land use plans for the Central Coast and North Coast. The government signed a similar agreement with Turning Point First Nations on March 23, 2006, finalizing the land use agreement for the North Coast.

“This agreement gives us an active role in how and where business is done in our traditional territories,” said KNT First Nations chairman Dallas Smith. “Equally important is the fact this agreement is built on a spirit of mutual respect, recognition and reconciliation.”

The combined Central Coast and North Coast Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) areas are approximately 6.4 million hectares, or more than twice the size of Belgium. The total combined protected areas for these regions are approximately 1.8 million hectares, or more than three times the size of Prince Edward Island.

The protected areas preserve some of the largest intact temperate rainforests in the world and conserve more than 200,000 hectares of the Spirit Bear’s habitat, including the more than 103,000 hectare Kitasoo Spirit Bear Conservancy on Princess Royal Island. In short order, legislation will be introduced around these land use decisions to establish new protected areas and further sustainable logging practices in the region.

“This land use plan is about working together with First Nations and other groups in the pursuit of sustainable environmental management,” Christensen said. “The New Relationship our government is building with First Nations is based on principles of mutual respect, reconciliation and recognition of Aboriginal rights, as well as a shared vision of increased economic certainty and prosperity for all British Columbians. I applaud the chiefs of the KNT nations for their hard work and contribution to this process.”

The provincial government and First Nations have embarked on developing a new relationship based on mutual respect and the principles of recognition and reconciliation. Land and resource management plans and the opportunities they provide are an important part of that endeavour.

Photos of the signing ceremony will be available on March 28 after 11 a.m. at: www.mediaroom.gov.bc.ca//DisplayEventDetails.aspx?eventId=302

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Media contact:	Liz Bicknell Communications Director Ministry of Agriculture and Lands 250 356-2862 250 213-3072 (cell)

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