Industry, environmentalists welcome new land use policy

Environmentalists and industry officials have cautiously approved the Alberta government's plan to divide the province into six regions for land-use planning.

"We're certainly not breaking out the champagne yet, but I think that there's a lot of positive to be read into it," said Nigel Douglas, with the Alberta Wilderness Association, of the plan, which would see the six land-use regions comply with locally-developed goals and emissions targets.

Douglas added another positive aspect of the draft policy, unveiled Wednesday, was that "there's the acknowledgement that there have been problems, that we have been doing things wrong on the Alberta landscape for many years."

The policy aims to balance the needs for conservation and development after years of struggles between the province's booming industry and the environmental interest. 

The draft also calls for a strategy to better manage recreation on public land, private incentives to encourage conservation on private and public lands, strategies to minimize flood risks and for the creation of a transportation and utility corridors strategy.

David Poulton, with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, called the policy a "first step" toward better management of the land.

"They've recognized that the way that we have been doing land-use planning up to now has been insufficient and they've taken the first step in setting a new direction and a better direction for us," he said.

Meanwhile, Steve Kennett, a senior policy analyst for the Pembina Institute, said he's cautiously pleased with the draft, but would like to be assured that the land-use policy, currently in draft form, will become official.

"This is a draft. It's a testing of the broad policy direction and between now and the fall when this is finalized. I think there is an opportunity to make this real and spell out how it's going to be implemented and practised," he said.

He added that he is worried heavy industry will ramp up their development in the time it takes to develop and implement the new land-use plans.

"There's certainly a need for interim measures to protect land-use values and to prevent that kind of development rush, particularly in areas where there's a lot of development pressure," he said, adding that he will push the government to speed up the process.

But industry has also responded well to the draft plan. David Pryce of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said industry is already going full out and there isn't any plan among producers  to try to accelerate exploration or development.

"There is an intent to manage on a sustainable development basis, which really is balancing the three pillars of sustainable development — the environment, the social and economic considerations," he said.

"We've said all along that the way to do business to the benefit of all parties is to try and strike that balance and to manage for growth, not to stop it, and I think that message is clear in the document as well."

Pryce said he looks forward to the planning process, as the government continues to consult with the public on the changes necessary for the implementation of the policies.

The government said it hopes to have the regional portion of the plans in place by 2012.