A Northwest B.C. environmental group is raising the alarm about the provincial government cancelling more than 1.35 million acres of land designated for conservation and recreational use. SkeenaWild says this was done despite warnings from government personnel and with no consultation with land and resource planning committees including the Bulkley Valley Community Resources Board (BVCRB), Kalum Plan Implementation Committee (KPIC), Indigenous nations, municipalities, regional districts and the public at large. “These cancellations put valued habitats at risk of being removed from public lands, logged or impacted by industrial development, including popular recreational areas such as Klinger Lake, Tyee Mountain, Atlin, and the Stewart estuaries, the non-profit said in a release. The Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship, however, said extensive consultation was conducted and the move is progress toward reconciliation and modernizing land use.

Follow-up coverage, letter by Anne Hetherington, Smithers, BC: Province wrong in conservation land cancellations