30 Range use plans go digital
MyRangeBC, an online system to more easily create, update and manage range use plans, went live at the beginning of April. The BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development announced the launch April 3. “The digital system will help make [range use plans]
more practical and useful so you don’t have to spend a lot of time,” says Dinwoodie. “They will be computer- based, but you can still make a paper copy if you like that. … You can do it in your truck, off your smart phone, or an office. It gives you a lot more control over that documentation with government.” Plans renewing or initiated this year will be the first filed using the new system. “We are going to be walking ranchers through the steps on an iPad,” says Dinwoodie. “You will never be required to have a computer if you don’t like the things, but if you do like them, you can get interactive.” The transition to a fully digitized system is expected to happen over several years as paper-based range use plans expire or are amended, and are then incorporated into MyRangeBC. Range use plans have a five-year cycle, so all plans should be online by 2024. Over 34.9 million hectares of Crown rangeland (over a
third of B.C.’s land area) are currently covered by grazing and hay cutting agreements.
Tom Walker
One ally in the process has been the Agricultural Land Commission, Stump notes. There is a substantial amount of ALR land on Crown land – well over a million hectares. “In the past, land users
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haven’t paid heed to the fact that it is ALR land,” he says. “The ALC chair has been bringing that to the attention of the minister of forests.” Stump stressed the
importance of the relationship between what is done on Crown land and the viability of the Agricultural Land Reserve on deeded land. “For most ranches in BC,
the Crown land component is an important part that has a direct influence on the viability of the whole ranch operation,” he says. Attitudes are changing,
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would like to put cattle on those ranges to keep them active.
The situation isn’t exclusive to the North Okanagan, either. “A big item is range vacancies that we have all over the country,” says Dinwoodie. “We always want a range right out our back door, but that is not always available anymore.” FLNRORD is undertaking a consultation on vacant range properties en masse to avoid having to do so one range at a time. “We are working through
First Nations consultation for those ranges that are available and for the most part we are not having negative feedback.” Dinwoodie also noted that a prequalification program –
RANGE vital Equal footing
Stump also noted that the
Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) is being amended over the next two years and that is also likely to result in changes for Crown range users. “This is a once in 20-year
opportunity to get forage on an equal footing with forestry,” said Stump. “We are hoping to get a more predictable supply of forge that we can then manage.”
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MAY 2019 nfrom page 29
Stump adds, and it won’t be business as usual. “Forest licensees will have
to respect that it is agriculture land first and will have to address that in their forest stewardship plans and their site plans.”
Vacant land Dinwoodie noted there are
approximately 20 vacant ranges in the North Okanagan, leaving valuable infrastructure vulnerable. He
“Forest licensees will have to respect that it is agriculture land first ...”
currently being referred through First Nations for their advance approval under UNDRIP – is starting this year to attract interested ranchers. “It will save you coming into the office and registering, and us having to advertise, each time something comes up,” he told ranchers. “If you are interested in range, it prequalifies you. Do you have the cattle? Do you have the land? Do you have a brand? One application and one fee. It cuts out a whole lot of legwork.” In the meantime, ranchers can still get temporary access to vacant range. “We recognize that
Werner Stump, NOLA Land Stewardship Committee
the First Nations process may take a while and we have offered to put people into range under permit for a year,” says
Dinwoodie. “We realize you need grass. Then we can have the competition from the pre- qualify list.”
Grazing licence terms are also changing. Cattlemen successfully lobbied for a change from a 10-year licence, notes Dinwoodie. “Grazing licences can’t be less than 15 years now, and the district manager has the discretion of making them between 15 to 25 years.” The province is also
looking at the opportunity for community pastures, says Dinwoodie. “We realize that there are
small producers out there that may have 10, 15, 25 head,” he notes. “They can’t pick up a 100-head cow-calf range, but you might get three or four people working together on a range for the 100 head total.”
308 St. Laurent Avenue Quesnel, B.C. V2J 5A3
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