Please support Outdoor Recreation by supporting UBCM Resolution EB42
We are asking each of our clubs to do an individual direct follow with your Mayor, Council, or District Rep. This can be done via email or calling their office, and needs to be done right away as the UBCM Convention is coming up fast, in mid September 2021, therefore we ask that you please reach out to your local government by Sept 3, 2021, as they are the UBCM voting members, to discuss the importance of Resolution EB42 and what it means for recreational users and rural communities that rely on the economic impact of outdoor recreation.
What you can you do to support EB42?
Below is a template that can be directly copied and pasted into an email from you to your Mayor, Council or District Rep with links to reference documents.
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The Quad Riders ATV Association of BC and [insert ATV club name] are writing to you today to seek support from [insert town or municipality] for UBCM Resolution EB42 that is being sponsored by the District of Sicamous to establish objectives for recreation values under the Forest & Range Practices Act to ensure they are adequately protected from the impacts of forestry activities.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me on behalf of [insert ATV club name] or contact ATVBC General Manager, Kim Smith, at [email protected] or 604 534 0537
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What is a UBCM Resolution?
The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) was formed to provide a common voice for local governments.
The main forum for UBCM policy-making are annual resolutions that are sponsored by local governments and brought forward and voted on by local governments from all areas of the province. Resolutions endorsed at UBCM are put forth as recommendations to the appropriate government Ministry.
Why the changes proposed in Resolution EB42?
The Forest & Range Practices Act (FRPA) outlines how all forest and range practices are to be conducted on Crown land. There are 11 resource values identified and protected under FRPA such as biodiversity, cultural heritage, timber, and wildlife. To manage and protect these resource values, government sets legal objectives and desired outcomes detailing how land users must work together.
Forest licensees operating on provincial forest land must prepare forest stewardship plans (FSPs) with results and strategies designed to meet the objectives.
For example, the FRPA objective for “biodiversity” at the stand level is simply “to retain wildlife trees” therefore all FSPs must include results or strategies to deal with wildlife trees.
To date, government has not established a provincial FRPA objective for the recreation resource value. Without declared objectives, industrial licensees have no requirement to consider, consult, or coordinate their activities with recreational resources.
The Forest Practices Board recently completed Special Report “Management of Forest Recreation in BC” identifies improvements BC can make to better manage its recreation resources including “set objectives for specific recreation resource values to ensure they are adequately protected from the impacts of forestry activities”
What changes does Resolution EB42 propose?
The District of Sicamous is bringing forward Resolution EB42 relating to the changes required in the Forest & Range Practices Act (FRPA) to establish an objective in FRPA that ensures recreation groups are included in forestry land planning processes.
Proposed Objective
“The objective set by government for recreation is, without unduly reducing the supply of timer from British Columbia’s forests, to avoid or mitigate any adverse impacts to any recreation site, trail or facility that exits on Crown land”
Call to Action
It is important that your municipality hears directly from your club and knows that you would like them to support the resolution. Once you have contacted your mayor and council, it would be greatly appreciated if you could please let me know it has been done and whether there is support from your community.
(I will be away on holidays at the end of August however will be monitoring my emails relating to these resolutions)
Thank you for your support of Resolution EB42!
