The B.C. ministry with the biggest name and footprint in provincial history is being broken up as part of a reform of rural and resource development, Premier John Horgan says.

Newly elected Stikine MLA Nathan Cullen has been assigned the task of reorganizing what is now officially known as the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development into two government departments. That will leave Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy with a focus on forests and rural development as B.C.B次元官网网址檚 first female forests minister. Cullen, a long-time northwest B.C. MP appointed B次元官网网址渕inister of stateB次元官网网址� or assistant to Conroy, will likely end up in charge of the vast Crown lands and resource roads that wind through them.

B次元官网网址淲hen we were sworn in in 2017, it was my desire to have a stand-alone ministry of forests, something that the former B.C. Liberals had rolled in to what is now one of the most unwieldy ministries within government,B次元官网网址� Horgan said after revealing his new cabinet lineup Nov. 26. B次元官网网址淢inister CullenB次元官网网址檚 job, working with Minister Conroy, is to disaggregate that, and take component parts and move them to where they might be better utilized.B次元官网网址�

The directive is included in ConroyB次元官网网址檚 , given to each minister by Horgan. Lands and natural resources will be a full-scale department with significant staff, unlike the mental health and addictions ministry that essentially advises the health ministry.

RELATED:

RELATED:

B次元官网网址淭he ministry was created by Gordon Campbell just days before he resigned as premier,B次元官网网址� Horgan said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been existing for almost a decade without any amendments or visions, and I think itB次元官网网址檚 an important part of our economic vitality, certainly forests, but also to have the permitting and other processes separated so that they can have a stand-alone minister.B次元官网网址�

CampbellB次元官网网址檚 logic for combining forests and lands was that roads, bridges and sites for logging, mining and other industrial development were linked with care of wildlife, as B.C. struggled with dwindling caribou herds and other conservation issues. Wildlife was moved from environment into what became a super-ministry in charge of more than 90 per cent of the provinceB次元官网网址檚 area.

Cullen was elected to replace Doug Donaldson, who retired as Skeena MLA after three and a half years as forests and lands minister. One of his last projects was embarking on a B次元官网网址渉olisticB次元官网网址� old-growth forest preservation strategy, starting with nine regions where logging is deferred for consultations with Indigenous communities in each region.

The nine areas total 3,350 square km, including the Seven Sisters region near Smithers, Incomappleaux Valley, Crystalline Creek and Stockdale Creek watersheds in the Kootenays, the Upper Southgate River that drains to Bute Inlet on the south coast, Skagit-Silverdaisy near the U.S. border and HB次元官网网址橩usam, McKelvie Creek and Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island.

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
Like us on and follow us on .