Future of Recreation: Navigating the planning path

Northern BC Tourism | Andrew Strain photo

Perspective and clarity on the seismic shifts in provincial land and water planning.

From access to nature to apps and AI, the evolution of trail construction to electric power, this story is part of a series of articles looking at how recreation will change and evolve over the short and long term. 

In recent years, the provincial government has rolled out a bewildering alphabet soup of agreements, frameworks and policies: land, water and marine planning, cumulative effects assessments, old growth reviews, managing for ecosystem health, biodiversity commitments, tripartite cooperation, conservation finance, plus so many acronyms (UNDRIP, MLUP, IPCAs, FRPA). It’s all part of a dramatic shift in how lands and waters are managed in B.C. 

The pace of change is significant, and it’s understandable if people are confused, says Brian Bawtinheimer, the executive director for the provincial stewardship strategies and planning branch, part of the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. 

“There’s not one single thing driving all these changes,” Bawtinheimer says. “There are a ton of elements coming together.” 

He has more perspective on the pace of change than most. Bawtinheimer worked on the provincial government’s first big push to develop land use plans and double BC’s protected areas back in the 1990s. After more than 30 years in government, he has had a front-row seat in the evolution of planning and management. 

Late last year, he gave a presentation to the ORCBC’s members to shed some light on the management changes. With all the new programs intersecting and interacting in compounding ways, even he admits it’s confusing. But while there is no defined trail forward, Bawtinhiemer says the route is clear for the recreation community: get engaged, forge new relationships, stay informed and work together.

Bawtinheimer traces the shift in how the government manages the land to four major programs.

The Cumulative Effects Framework is a recognition that human impacts on the landscape are additive. A 2015 Auditor General report highlighted that rather than make decisions about one activity in isolation, as was done in the past, it has to be done as a whole. The province and First Nations, with input from stakeholders, now have to consider all uses (logging, mining, recreation, conservation, etc.) and all the impacts (environmental, economic and social). 

Next, in 2017, the provincial government committed to modernizing the Land Use Planning (LUP) process. LUPs lay out how competing interests share a given area. There are existing LUPs that cover more than 90 percent of the province, but they are old, mostly developed in the 1990s, and didn’t reflect government commitments to reconciliation, since most were negotiated without Indigenous involvement. 

This became a more pressing issue in 2019 when the provincial government adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Act. DRIPA, as it’s known, is the third and most important force for change. It enshrined the need to treat First Nations governments as equal partners in land, water and marine planning.

Finally, the most recent policy announcement came in December 2022 when the provincial government adopted the international Convention on Biological Diversity, a call to protect 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030. 

“In combination with DRIPA, there’s a recognition that Indigenous-led stewardship is a critical component of how we achieve the target,” says Bawtinheimer. 

Several B.C. First Nations are developing Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, known as IPCAs. Each one will identify a unique approach to conservation, stewardship and responsible resource activities. 

The four commitments interact and build on each other. And they force other changes, like the new forest landscape planning process we reported on last fall and a shift in prospecting and mining rules. In general, the new programs promise a more level playing field for all stakeholders and better protection for recreation assets. But when added together, there is plenty of potential to create more bureaucracy and conflicts between programs, says Louise Pedersen, the executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC. 

“With the many moving strategies and frameworks, it's crucial that all ministries and agencies coordinate their work in a way that we haven't seen before,” she says. “Siloed efforts will not result in good outcomes for the public. There must be meaningful and ongoing efforts to seek input and diverse perspectives from stakeholders, such as those of ORCBC and others in the recreation community.” 

Bawtinheimer shares Pedersen’s perspective. 

“A big part of our work now is developing clarity with how the various programs operate together,” he says. "That includes ensuring processes reflect provincial level strategies, whether those be related to conservation or resource use, or with recreation-based strategies such as those under development with the Ministry of Environment.”

But he also admits that many of the new planning processes continue to evolve. Plus, the government is moving away from the prescriptive approaches with planning toward more customized approaches that better meet First Nation, provincial and community interests. For example, each of the new modernized LUPs underway will develop their own path, which will inform, but not necessarily dictate, future LUPs. Or with IPCAs, Bawtinheimer says no two will be the same. 

That concerns Pedersen. When it comes to recreation interests, provincial planning branches are already backlogged and understaffed. Small recreation groups often struggle to understand government processes and follow the necessary steps to have their voice heard. A multitude of new programs to monitor, with overlapping and confusing jurisdictions, doesn’t sound like a strategy to streamline and simplify the process, she says.  

Bawtinheimer admits it can be hard for small groups to keep up with all the changes that have and will happen. He says that makes supporting organizations that speak for many small stakeholders vital. Groups like the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC will become an increasingly important conduit for communicating with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship on all these changes, he says.  

But there’s also an onus of small clubs to take an interest. 

“Every user group needs to understand that the government intends to redo all the LUPs in the province,” says Bawtinheimer. “Staying connected to land use issues and building awareness of recreation interests with First Nations, resource users and local communities is critical.”

The positive side of all this is that the process is not predetermined, says Bawtinheimer. That means recreation groups can help drive the process, as well as provide their input. 

“We’re doing stuff in B.C. no one else in Canada is doing,” he says. “It’s super exciting but super hair-raising at the same time. The province doesn’t have all the answers. It’s only collectively that we’ll figure out a path forward.”

If you want to read more stories in our series about the Future of Outdoor Recreation, click here.