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WHEREAS the land, water, and air environments of British Columbia support extraordinarily rich
ane diverse natural ecosystems; |

AND WHEREAS these environrnenis create and susiain renewable and non-renewable natura
resources of global ecological and economic importance;

AND WHEREAS sustainable use cf natural resources is the foundation upon which the survival and
qualitative growth of British Columbla human society is predicated;

AND WHEREAS the clifizens of British Columbia must insure that these unique environments and
ecosysiems are stiewarded in a manner which:

1) maintains natural ecological diversity and integrity through wide application of
conservation, preservation, and mitigation measures,

2) guarantees biologically sustainable levels of resource harvesi and extraction,
3) requires maximum value added manufacturing of all resources,

A) provides stabie, fairly paid; and challenging employmeni,

5) supports a fair return on natural resource Industry investment,

6) allows stable growth of regions whose communities control management of thelr local
watersheds. :

AND WHEREAS these fundamental values have not been recognized, protected, or promoted by
the present British Columbla Forest Act, or other Provincial legisiation;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the British Columbia Forest Act and other related natural
resource management legislation be immediately rescinded, and a new Watershed Sieward-
ship Act be proclaimed that incorporates the following principles and policies.

i] Natural Resource Management Administration

The Ministries of Forests, Environment, Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources, Crown Lands,
Agriculture and Fisheries, and Parks shall be combined into a Ministry of Natural Resources.
Equal budgets shall be provicied to each activily the new Ministry will embrace. The primary
mandates of the Ministry shall be to 1) establish a continuously updated range of susiainable
development policies and implementation prescriptions in the form of a Provincial Land Use
Strategy, 2) maintain a comprehensive Gis data base which will describe the land, waiter, flora,
fish, wildlife, and climatic resources of British Columbia, 3) audit the progress of government and
the private sector towards achieving sustainabie ‘woals, 4) assist regional Water-

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