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Recommendations

REGIONAL PLANNING & WATERSHED PROTECTION

Most water that falls on mountains and valleys of eastern Vancouver Island and southern
and interior British Columbia ends up in Georgia Strait. The salmon depend on sound
watershed management for their spawning. Millions of marine creatures live or die by the
quality of water entering the Strait. And yet our management record is abysmal. Regional
planning was abolished by the BC Government in 1983, eliminating the ability of munici-
palities and Regional Districts to prepare wise long-term land-use plans. Twenty-nine
different federal and provincial agencies presently have management jurisdiction over
water-related issues in BC - an administrative tangleweed - but while the watershed is the
natural ecological unit for decision-making, not one of these agencies represents the needs
of watersheds as such. Long-term watershed-based planning is needed for Georgia Strait
to be restored to its original pristine beauty.

Yo: the BC Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Culture

e Seek input from municipal and regional government, business and environmental
groups on the need for ecologically-based, long-term, sustainable regional planning, and
then prepare and present the necessary legislation to Cabinet.

To: the citizens of identifiable watersheds .
° Establish a community-based watershed protection society in your watershed which
will gather information, present evidence and speak to public hearings.

To: the BC Ministry of Forests
¢ Following the recommendation of the Forest Resources Commission concerning the

establishment of Local Forest Plarining Groups, prepare the necessary legislation to estab-
lish a provincial Forestry Resources Board and Community Forestry (Watershed) Re-
sources Boards in each forest district, referring to the Tin Wis Coalition Forest Steward-
ship Act as a guide to content and process.

® Establish community stewardship programs, enabling citizens to take responsibility for
restoring and maintaining the health of spawning streams near their homes, for reporting
or clearing log-jams, and for reporting infractions, etc.

To: BC Ministry of the Environment

¢ Develop a program with sufficient funding to assist regional and local governments in
the vital work of developing comprehensive ecological inventories and assessments of
their watersheds.

To: all BC coastal municipalities‘’and Regional Districts
¢ Establish appropriate protected greenbelt zones bordering all rivers, lakes, streams and
coastal frontages.