I think the general apathy here is in large part due to "been there done that" from the Castle debacle. It's pretty clear that decisions have already made by this government, and any "consultation" is just window dressing and butt covering.
That being said, we should absolutely be doing anything and everything we can to put as much pressure on them as we can to get this modified or delayed for as long as possible.
It seems that there was quite the cross section on that panel, including outfitters, farmers and foresters.
Reading through the executive summary (which is long) it appears that hunting, fishing, outfitting and OHV use, as well as industrial activity will continue, albeit, it may be constrained in parts. I'm not sure that isn't a good thing overall.
But Cal R. is right, this is important and we need to comment on the parts we care about.
Ok folks so here’s the process:
As noticed the report is written by prominent and diverse Albertans giving advice how they see the N. Sask regional Plan should look from the information given to them by the government planning teams.
The report was actually produced and released to RAC members Nov 2014, so has been on the shelf for 3 years. Notice it does not have a published/release date on it. That makes me wonder and go hmmm…
We have till May 04 to provide comment. I think the survey is a good format as it does not run the risk and criticism of being biased. You can say whatever you want. It will take work and thought and this is good. Discussion should be around values and not positions. What are we trying to achieve and how do we get there?...or are we there?; just need some identified management tools put in place...easy fix.
Once the survey and our letters are tabulated we should see a document that provides the input summary ‘This is What We Heard...” for all of us to see if our voice was heard. (don’t expect that to happen). Once all the input is considered, a draft plan will be written. (I suspect it is already been)
Albertans are then given a comment period on the draft plan, with a rewrite and release of the final Plan. (I don’t remember if there is to be one last comment period and too lazy to look.) The new NSRP will be enacted into regulation and away we go.
That’s how it is supposed to work.
History says that once the May 04 comment period is complete anything can happen…and can happen fast. There are comment periods that are required under the Land Stewardship Act but as we have seen the whole Land Use Framework has become a political exercise…which was not the intent back in the mid 2000’s when we wrote it.
It was to be written by Albertans FOR Albertans accounting for the diversity of each watershed; thus the RAC process and many public input check points.
In my view reading the report as presented is something we can work with. Many of the solutions to the issues are in there… the same solutions that have been brought forward over the years.
History says this isn’t what we are going to get.
Cal
Talk about information overload.
I got about two paragraphs down.
I'm supposed to review a 116 page document to voice an opinion?
There is a LOT there, but at least we can't complain that there is no meat. I'd rather have a more complete document, like this one, than a short form one that leaves too much unsaid.
NSRP Regional Advisory Council Report
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