Britsh Columbia bans exploration in all parks

In an effort to reduce escalating confrontations over land use in British Columbia, Parks Minister Terry Huberts and Mines Minister Jack Davis formally announced in late December that mineral exploration and claim- staking would no longer be permitted in any B.C. parks. “A park is a park,” said Huberts who added there will be no further exploration on existing mineral claims inside Wells Gray, Tweedsmuir, Manning and Kokanee Glacier provincial parks. Huberts said holders of valid existing claims in these parks would be dealt with “equitably.”

The minister also said recreation areas created before 1986 have been reviewed and almost all will be closed to any claim-staking and upgraded to Class A Park status, with the exceptions of the Purcells Wilderness Conservancy and the Skagit-Cascades Recreation Areas which are currently in a public planning process.

Mines Minister Davis confirmed that Section 19 of the 1988 Mineral Tenure Act will now apply in all recreation areas outside provincial parks created since 1986. The Act provides for exploration of not less than 10 years duration in recreation areas which may become parks in the future. Davis said exploration in these areas would be authorized as of Feb 15 in order to give mining companies time to plan their work for the 1989 field season.

“In areas where high mineral potential is discovered, mines may be established,” he said. “Economics along with environmental consideration will ultimately decide which mine projects go ahead and which do not.”

The latest changes in exploration policy means nearly 250,000 hectares of recreation area will be upgraded to full park status, while about one million hectares will be opened to mineral exploration. But Jack Patterson, managing director of the B.C. & Yukon Chamber of Mines, said the government’s dismal past record of compensating valid claim holders in areas subsequently removed from exploration may discourage companies and individuals from investing in these areas at all. (Since 1987, the government has upgraded the classification of well over a million hectares to Class A park status.)

Patterson also said he doesn’t expect the parks ruling to satisfy the coalition of environmental groups currently lobbying to have at least 13% of the province’s land base protected from all resource industry activity, more than twice the amount currently protected.

But other measures announced by the government did meet with industry approval, notably a move to have the mining industry deal directly with the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, which would in turn work closely with Parks on matters that have frustrated resource development in the past. “We’ve always wanted to have this one-window approach to government,” said Tom Waterland, president of the Mining Association of B.C.

Proposals for legislating the boundaries of all parks are expected to be presented to government by the Parks Minister once its master planning processes are complete and all remaining legal tenures are dealt with. Waterland said his association has offered to become involved in determining the process to compensate existing claim holders affected by changes in the government’s exploration policy.