Projected areas selection and the LRMP process

In 1992, a planning process was begun in British Columbia to develop regional land use plans. One component of the Land and Resource Management Planning (LRMP) process was the BC Protected Area Strategy (PAS). Its purpose was to recommend areas for protected area status. Within the LRMP process, both environmental and socioeconomic criteria were considered in determining protected area recommendations. Specific research questions investigated in this project were: What criteria were important in LRMP protected area selections; and, How did protected area decisions contribute to land use planning? These research questions were investigated using a literature review of protected area selection methods and criteria, and with a mail-out survey to participants of four LRMP processes: Mackenzie, Okanagan-Shuswap, Cassiar-Iskut-Stikine and Kalum South. The research findings indicated the prominence of environmental criteria over social and economic criteria, and that the LRMP protected area selection process contributed positively to land use planning.