West Yellowhead Corridor Regional Integrated Decision
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
West Yellowhead Corridor Regional Integrated Decision A refinement to the 1990 Coal Branch Sub‐Regional Integrated Resource Plan that identifies commercial recreation and tourism opportunities as a priority land use within nodes of designated public land managed by Sustainable Resource Development in the West Yellowhead Corridor. A Project Led By Sustainable Resource Development In Collaboration With: Ministry of Tourism, Parks and Recreation Town of Hinton Yellowhead County Endorsed by: Minister of Sustainable Resource Development November 2008 Foothills Area EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Regional Integrated Decision designates 9 nodes of public land for commercial recreation and tourism development in the West Yellowhead Corridor of Alberta. The land management decision is a refinement of the 1990 Coal Branch Sub‐Regional Integrated Resource Plan and provides greater provincial land and resource management direction for municipal area structure planning. The coordination of commercial recreation and tourism activities within designated nodes addresses orderly development within the West Yellowhead Corridor in an effort to maintain the natural values of the area that are the foundation of recreation experiences. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1.0 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………………... 4 1.1 Purpose of Regional Integrated Decision…………………………………………………… 4 1.2 West Yellowhead Corridor Area………………………………………………………………... 4 2.0 NODE IDENTIFICATION & LAND MANAGEMENT DECISION‐MAKING PROCESS…. 5 3.0 REGIONAL INTEGRATED DECISION…………………………………………………………………… 7 3.1 Rationale For Selection of Total 9 Nodes……………………………………………………. 8 3.2 Node Resource Summary…………………………………………………………………………… 9 4.0 IMPLEMENTATION OF REGIONAL INTEGRATED DECISION……………………………….. 9 5.0 REGIONAL INTEGRATED DECISION EVALUATION AND SITE MONITORING……….. 12 Appendix A ‐ Map of three additional proposed development nodes proposed in 2008……….. 13 Appendix B ‐ Map of existing and additional development nodes …………………………………………. 14 Appendix C ‐ Map of total nine development nodes ……………………………………………………………… 15 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Land‐use Framework identifies managing growth as a key outcome with the development of regional plans to provide strategic, comprehensive and integrated social, economic and environmental outcomes. More refined land management planning and decision‐making are also required at sub‐regional and local scales. Increasing population, industrial, recreation and tourism pressures led to more detailed land management planning in the West Yellowhead Corridor between 1996 and November 2008. The culmination of this effort is the identification of nine public land areas (“nodes”) where commercial recreation and tourism development is a priority land use which other land uses must take into consideration. The 1990 Coal Branch Sub‐Regional Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) recognizes the landscape suitability of the Yellowhead Corridor Resource Management Area and the Brule Lake Resource Management Area to provide for a range of recreation and tourism opportunities. The designation of nodes provides a mechanism to identify specific areas in the corridor with high recreation value that provide opportunities for unique recreation experiences in landscapes that cannot be replicated elsewhere in Alberta. Similarly, nodes enable the consolidation of commercial recreation and tourism developments in order to retain intact landscapes upon which the recreation experience depends. The Corridor already supports many other land uses including forestry, energy and residential activities which present management challenges to integrate land use and maintain important natural values. The land management decision to create these nodes builds connections between provincial, regional and local outcomes. In particular, it provides greater clarity and provincial land management direction to municipal area structure planning that addresses the specific details of the node including the type of development permitted and municipal infrastructure and servicing requirements. This orderly planning, development and use of public land in turn provides greater certainty to potential recreation and tourism developers and the public. As defined within the ‘July 23, 1999 West Yellowhead Corridor Commercial Tourism and Recreation Development Project Public Information Package’, “commercial recreation and tourism development” means developments that offer facility oriented recreational, tourism or accommodation services and/or programs to the general public which require a long term lease. 1.1 Purpose of Regional Integrated Decision This Regional Integrated Decision (RID) is a refinement of the IRP and articulates the land management decision to designate 9 public land areas (“nodes”) within the West Yellowhead Corridor for commercial recreation and tourism development as a priority land use. The RID reaffirms the 1999 decision to establish 9 nodes and confirms the decision to add two new nodes (Overlander and Entrance). The Overlander node encompasses the existing Wildhorse/Kinky Lakes and Folding Mountain nodes. Amendments to the IRP are required to reflect the intent of this RID. An Implementation Agreement will be created to detail implementation roles and responsibilities. The RID will inform the future development of the Upper Athabasca Regional Plan. 1.2 West Yellowhead Corridor Area Alberta’s West Yellowhead Corridor is the province’s scenic and much‐travelled gateway to the northern Canadian Rockies. The Corridor extends along Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway) and Highway 40 (Bighorn Highway), from the Jasper National Park gates in the west to near Obed Lake, near Edson, in the east. It covers an area of about 1,050 square km (397 sq. miles) of public land. The nine nodes comprise 4 a total area of 66 square km (25 sq. miles), approximately 6.3% of the total area of the West Yellowhead Corridor (see Appendix C). The boundary of the area referred to as the West Yellowhead Corridor is shown in Appendix B. References to the ‘corridor’ throughout this document are in reference to this West Yellowhead Corridor boundary. This area encompasses approximately the west half of the Yellowhead Corridor Resource Management Area and most of the Brule Lake Resource Management Area as described in the 1990 Coal Branch Sub‐Regional Integrated Resource Plan. The West Yellowhead Corridor boundary includes additional area north of the IRP planning area. The corridor area consists mostly of Boreal Foothills, with pine and aspen as the major forest species. A small western portion of the Athabasca Valley is within the Montane Ecoregion, with vegetation ranging from white spruce and aspen to grasslands. Parts of the Athabasca and McLeod rivers flow through the corridor. The corridor, with its foothills, forests, streams, lakes, mountain vistas and wildlife, is appealing for tourists both as a scenic route and a destination. The area is attractive for recreation opportunities such as camping, trail use, resort holidays, fishing, hunting and other activities. The corridor supports a variety of land uses with commitments in place for such activities as forestry, mining, and oil and gas development. The Alberta government recognizes the beauty and natural environment of the region, and is dedicated to managing these varied activities in a way that maintains its overall integrity. 2.0 NODE IDENTIFICATION & LAND MANAGEMENT DECISION‐MAKING PROCESS With the direction provided by the IRP, the identification of public land suitable for commercial recreation and tourism in the West Yellowhead Corridor has occurred within two distinct time periods: 1996‐1999 and 2006‐November 2008. 1996 ‐ Initiation of Process In 1996, increasing local land use pressures within the West Yellowhead Corridor (WYC) led the Northern East Slopes Resource Committee (ERC) to initiate the identification of areas (nodes) for commercial recreational and tourism development within the corridor. An analysis conducted by Butler Krebes & Associates Inc. resulted in a document titled the ‘West Yellowhead Corridor Development Node Evaluation (1997)’ and identified 12 areas for node development. Five broad suitability criteria used for node assessment included: environment; resources; infrastructure; regulatory requirements; and existing development. 1999 – West Yellowhead Corridor Commercial Tourism and Recreation Memorandum of Understanding In June of 1999, after extensive public consultation that supported development in the nodes, the Alberta Government approved nine nodes and articulated this in the ‘1999 West Yellowhead Corridor Commercial Tourism and Recreation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)’ signed between the Province of Alberta, Yellowhead County, Town of Hinton, Weldwood of Canada Limited (now West Fraser) and Weyerhaeuser Canada Limited. The nine nodes included: Obed Lake Eccles Pond Obed Summit Pedley Hinton West 5 Athabasca Lookout Airport Road/Maskuta Creek Wildhorse/Kinky Lakes Folding Mountain The MOU established roles and responsibilities of the separate agencies for the review and approval of commercial recreation and tourism dispositions within these nodes. The MOU was administered as a “living document” and stipulated a review of the document in five year intervals. Between 1999 and 2008, proposed commercial recreation and tourism development applications were restricted to the agreed‐upon development nodes. Development applications were then reviewed through the appropriate provincial and municipal government approval processes. 2005