Okanagan - Shuswap Land and Resource Management Plan Approved Plan April 11, 2001 Funding provided by the Crown Land Use Planning Enhancement (CLUPE) fund of Forest Renewal BC Okanagan - Shuswap Land and Resource Management Plan Approved Plan April 11, 2001 Funding provided by the Crown Land Use Planning Enhancement (CLUPE) fund of Forest Renewal BC Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP Approved Plan Executive Summary The Okanagan – Shuswap Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) covers approximately 2.5 million hectares. The planning process was initiated in July 1995 and completed in September 2000. The plan was approved by government in January 2001. The plan was developed by over 30 public and government participants representing a wide range of values such as water, timber, wildlife, fisheries, mining, recreation, tourism, conservation and agriculture. First Nations expressed an interest in the process but chose not to participate. They were kept informed about the process on an ongoing basis through a dedicated liaison position, as well as through the provision of meeting summaries and other LRMP material. The LRMP provides direction for the management of the Crown land and resources within the plan area. Through their recommendations package the participants clearly articulated their vision for a balanced land use strategy. The plan includes management direction that applies across the entire plan area (i.e., general management), resource management zones (RMZs) where integrated resource management is practiced based on objectives and strategies specific to that RMZ, as well as almost fifty new protected areas. The level of detail found in this plan is greater than that found in previous LRMPs. This should provide the clarity required for efficient implementation. Some of the highlights of the plan include: • Resource management zones covering 93% of the Crown land base outside of protected areas. Because the RMZs apply to particular resource attributes or values where they occur on the land base; there is extensive overlap between many of these zones. The result of this overlap is that operationally no zone can or should be considered in isolation of the other RMZs that may cover the same area. Therefore, management in any one area should meet the management direction in all overlapping RMZs. • Mineral exploration and development is permitted and encouraged in all areas, with the exception of protected areas. • Commercial timber harvesting and related access development are allowed in the vast majority of the planning area. There are currently some restrictions on commercial timber harvesting in caribou habitat. • 49 new protected areas (22 Goal 1 and 27 Goal 2), totaling approximately 123,000 hectares and increasing the protected area portion of the land base by 5% to a total of 7.9%. These areas include some of the rarest ecosystems in the province. • The plan recognizes the significance of riparian management and its implications to water, fish and wildlife. Additional protection for fish streams and larger non-fish bearing streams was afforded by allocating a ‘budget’ of 10,000 hectares of timber harvesting land base for ‘enhanced riparian reserves’. ES i Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP Approved Plan • The plan provides specific direction on managing for biodiversity by establishing the ‘biodiversity emphasis option’ assignments for each of the landscape units in the plan area, as well as guidance for the designation of old growth management areas. • Caribou are a wildlife species of concern in the plan area. The plan establishes approximately 9,500 hectares of ‘caribou reserves’ in the timber harvesting land base portion of the Mountain Caribou Habitat RMZ. In addition, another 10,000 hectares has been identified where timber harvesting will be deferred while research is undertaken that will aid in defining caribou habitat management requirements. Further action will be based upon the results of this research, which is expected to be available in seven years. • The establishment of an ‘Implementation and Monitoring Committee’ that will provide advice on activities relating to plan implementation and effectiveness monitoring on an ongoing basis. ES ii Okanagan-Shuswap Land and Resource Management Plan 12440-04/Table September 9, 2000 Provincial Government c/o Thompson – Okanagan IAMC Ministry of Forests 515 Columbia Street Kamloops BC V2C 2T7 Dear IAMC members: Re: Consensus Recommendations on a Land and Resource Management Plan for the Okanagan - Shuswap. It gives us great pleasure to enclose for your consideration a report that contains recommendations for a Land and Resource Management Plan for the Okanagan - Shuswap region of British Columbia. We are also pleased to inform you that the package of recommendations contained in the report reflect a consensus of all members of the Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP process. In arriving at this consensus, it was agreed that members would not be restricted from communicating with government agencies with respect to specific concerns or issues that they have regarding certain matters discussed in the enclosed report, so long as they do so in a manner that does not undermine or derogate from the consensus. In this regard, some members of the Table may forward to you, over the next several days, letters that identify such issues or concerns. Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP, Process Support Team TL-i Vernon Forest District Penticton Forest District 2501 14th Avenue, Vernon, BC V1T 8Z1 102 Industrial Place, Penticton, BC V2A 7C8 ph. (250) 558-1700 fax (250) 549-5485 ph. (250) 490-2200 fax (250) 492-1314 Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the development of an LRMP for the Okanagan - Shuswap and your patience in providing us with the necessary time and resources to complete this project in manner that we believe will benefit the region for many years to come. Yours Sincerely, The Members of the Okanagan-Shuswap LRMP Process (signature page attached) Attachment DJ/SC/dt TL-ii TL-iii TL-iv TL-v Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP Approved Plan Table of Contents Executive Summary Page ES i-ii Transmittal Letter Page TL i-v Table of Contents Page TOC i-iv Part 1 Introduction Page 1-1 to 1-11 Part 2 Characteristics of the Plan Area Page 2-1 to 2-5 Part 3 General Resource Management Page GMZ 3-1 to 3-2 (General Management Zone) • Agriculture Page AGRICULTURE 3-1 to 3-4 • Air Quality Page AIR 3-1 to 3-3 • Crown Land Page CROWN 3-1 to 3-10 • Ecosystem Management - Page EMFOREST 3-1 to 3-20 Forests • Energy Page ENERGY 3-1 to 3-4 • Fish and Aquatic Habitat Page FISH 3-1 to 3-24 • Forest Health Page HEALTH 3-1 to 3-5 • Guide-Outfitting (Licensed) Page GUIDE 3-1 to 3-2 • Heritage Resources Page HERITAGE 3-1 to 3-7 • Land and Soils Page LAND 3-1 to 3-9 • Mining Page MINING 3-1 to 3-19 • Range Page RANGE 3-1 to 3-7 • Recreation Page REC 3-1 to 3-7 • Riparian and Wetlands Page RIPARIAN 3-1 to 3-14 • Timber and Silviculture Page TIMBER 3-1 to 3-6 • Tourism Page TOUR 3-1 to 3-3 • Transportation Page TRANSPORT 3-1 to 3-5 • Trapping Page TRAPPING 3-1 to 3-4 • Water Page WATER 3-1 to 3-32 • Wildlife Page WILDLIFE 3-1 to 3-13 TOC i Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP Approved Plan Part 4 Polygon Specific Resource Page 4-1 to 4-2 Management Zones (RMZs) • Community/Crown Interface Page CCI 4-1 to 4-9 • Ecosystem Management-NDT4 Page NDT4 4-1 to 4-14 (open forests and grasslands) • Fish and Aquatic Habitat Page FISH 4-1 to 4-17 • Special Areas Page FISH 4-2 to 4-5 • Broodstock Collection Sites Page FISH 4-5 to 4-7 • Large Lake Shoreline Page FISH 4-8 to 4-11 • Joe Rich Page JRICH 4-1 to 4-3 • Mission Creek Watershed Page MISSION 4-1 to 4-6 • Recreation Page REC 4-1 to 4-23 • Regionally Significant Trail Page REC 4-5 to 4-9 Corridors • Intensive Recreation Page REC 4-10 to 4-20 • Tourism Areas Page TOUR 4-1 to 4-5 • Back Country Page TOUR 4-3 • Tourism Use Page TOUR 4-4 • Dispersed Tourism Use Page TOUR 4-4 • Visuals Management Page VISUAL 4-1 to 4-6 • Water - Community Watersheds Page CWS 4-1 to 4-10 • Wildlife Page WILDLIFE_…. • Bighorn Sheep Habitat Page W_BIGHORN 4-1 to 4-11 • Derenzy Bighorn Sheep Page W_DERENZY 4-1 to 4-7 Habitat • Elk Habitat Page W_ELK 4-1 to 4-7 • Grizzly Bear Habitat Page W_GRIZZLY 4-1 to 4-15 • Marten Habitat - Fly Hills Page W_MARTEN 4-1 to 4-4 • Moose Winter Habitat Page W_MOOSE 4-1 to 4-6 • Mountain Caribou Habitat Page W_CARIBOU 4-1 to 4-9 • Mountain Goat Habitat Page W_GOAT 4-1 to 4-6 • Mule Deer Winter Range Page W_MDEER 4-1 to 4-15 TOC ii Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP Approved Plan Part 5 Protected Areas (Goal 1 and Goal 2) Page 5-1 to 5-44 Part 6 Access Management Page 6-1 to 6-17 Part 7 Transition Page 7-1 to 7-5 Part 8 Advice to the Provincial Government Page 8-1 to 8-21 Part 9 Advice to the Local Government Page 9-1 to 9-11 Part 10 Variances, Amendments and Approvals Page 10-1 to 10-7 Part 11 Implementation and Monitoring Page 11-1 to 11-8 Direction Part 12 Appendices Page AI to AXIV TOC iii Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP Approved Plan Appendices Appendix I Okanagan – Shuswap LRMP APPENDIX I-1 to 17 Terms of References Appendix II List of Process Participants APPENDIX II-1 to 4 Appendix III LRMP Glossary of Terms and Acronyms APPENDIX III-1 to 21 Appendix IV Consensus Building Processes and APPENDIX IV-1 to 6 Bibliography Appendix V Summer Motorized Recreation Use: APPENDIX V-1 to 3 Principles and Opportunities for Land Stewardship and Shared Use Appendix VI Visual Quality Guidelines APPENDIX VI-1 to 45 Appendix VII Guidelines for Bighorn Sheep Habitat in APPENDIX VII-1 to 9 the Okanagan – Shuswap LRMP Appendix VIII Coordinated Access Management APPENDIX VIII-1 to 2 Planning (CAMP) “Principles” Appendix IX Mule Deer Implementation and Research APPENDIX IX-1 Strategy Appendix X Protected Areas that Pre-date the APPENDIX X-1 to 2 Okanagan – Shuswap LRMP Process Appendix XI Implications of the LRMP APPENDIX XI-1 Appendix XII Desired Outcomes and Indicators APPENDIX XII-1 to 3 Appendix XIII Strategies and Responsible Agencies APPENDIX XIII-1 to 2 Appendix XIV Interim Measures for Specified Rare APPENDIX XIV-1 to 83 Wildlife and Plant Communities within the Okanagan – Shuswap LRMP TOC iv Okanagan - Shuswap LRMP Approved Plan In this section: Part 1 • What is in an LRMP? • Purpose of the plan.