Overview
NATURAL RESOURCES PLANNING CASE STUDY
The Natural Resources Planning Case Study covers two geographic areas. The Case describes the joint environmental assessment for the Kemess North mining proposal, which concluded with a ground-breaking decision against the project. The Application is about joint land use planning between the Haida Nation and the Province.
Case. Kemess North: Rights, Title, and Subsurface Resources
The environmental assessment of the Kemess North gold and copper mine is unique for many reasons. From a natural resource land use planning perspective, the assessment process offers important insights about how conflicts among private rights to subsurface minerals, provincial strategic land use planning, and title and rights of Indigenous Nations are addressed. In particular, the Kemess North case highlights the efforts of the Tse Keh Nay, a tripartite coalition of Indigenous Nations in northern British Columbia, to oppose the development of this mine within its traditional territories. This case includes a review of mineral tenure law in BC, for which rights to subsurface resources centre on ‘free entry’ of mining proponents. This review is followed by a history of the Kemess North development proposal, and the corresponding environmental assessment in relation to Tse Keh Nay rights and title. Students are encouraged to consider strengths and weaknesses of regional land use planning, including consultation protocols in British Columbia.
Application. Joint Planning on Haida Gwaii
The Council of the Haida Nation and the Province of British Columbia are in a joint (government-to-government) land use planning process. The Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands Land Use Plan Recommendations Report and Addenda (hereafter, Recommendations Report) has been completed and the two governments are working toward a final strategic land use plan. As part of this work, the Council of the Haida Nation and the Province are negotiating an agreement for the amount of lands to be designated as protected areas (PAs) and as no-mining watersheds (NMWs). To reach agreement, the two parties identified options for each tenure (PAs and NMWs). As an expert in joint land use planning, the learner has been hired as a third-party consultant to advise both parties and to recommend which options for PAs and NMWs should be adopted as part of a joint strategic land use planning agreement.
Learning modules that support this case study
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Subsurface Property Rights
In BC, the purchase of Crown land by a private landowner usually involves the exclusive transfer of surface rights. Subsurface rights, including access to minerals, natural gas, and petroleum resources, are retained by the province for disposition to individual prospectors or corporations. This module describes important aspects of property rights related to these developments. The module covers how a person acquires subsurface rights for mining, oil and activities, mineral reserves, and coal reserves. The module also includes a critical review of BC’s “free entry” system and legal challenges of this system by Indigenous Nations to reclaim governance over mining activities.
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Indigenous Title and Rights
This module explains the difference between Indigenous title and rights to land. Provides a summary of important Supreme Court decisions that recognise Indigenous title and rights to land.
This module explains regional land use planning practice within and by the province of BC. The term “regional” describes land use planning at a large geographic scale. The need for land use planning extends far beyond urban boundaries into the remote regions where provincial parks, forestry, and mining take place. These areas also overlap almost entirely with the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples. In BC, 94% of the land base is public Crown land. Over 90% of these public lands are covered by regional land use plans.
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