West Babine Sustainable Resource Management Plan

1.1.3 Scope of the Plan
The West Babine SRMP was created to safeguard the public interests in the conservation and
management of values and resources in the plan area, and to direct management of the range of
resource-based activities occurring in the plan area. The plan may be amended from time to time
to address additional resource values as new issues arise.
The values and issues addressed in the West Babine SRMP were identified by:
Gitxsan hereditary chiefs with house territories in the West Babine;
stakeholders with an interest in the West Babine; and
the objectives and strategies from previous plans, i.e., the Kispiox and Bulkley LRMPs and the
Babine Local Resource Use Plan.
The West Babine SRMP does not, however, address:
management within the Babine River Corridor Provincial Park. BC Parks has prepared a plan for
the park, called the “Park Management Direction Statement” (2000). The West Babine SRMP
has been developed to be consistent with the Park Management Direction Statement, in
recognition of the integral nature of the Park to the plan area as a whole; and
allocation of land and resources. Allocation decisions (i.e. tenured resource development
opportunities) are outside the mandate of the MSRM and are addressed through tenuring and
permitting processes, led by other agencies.
1.1.4 Direction from Other Plans
The West Babine SRMP was developed to be consistent with pre-existing strategic plans,
including the Babine LRUP and the Kispiox LRMP. These plans were developed with significant
public input and provide an important foundation for the SRMP.
1.1.4.1 Babine Local Resource Use Plan
Before land use planning began in the Babine River watershed, the area was subject to a number
of ongoing conflicts over competing interests. These conflicts led to the development of the
Babine Interim LRUP, which was completed in 1994. The Babine LRUP addresses timber
harvesting, grizzly bear conservation, fisheries, biodiversity, and wilderness recreation and
identifies a number of management zones for various resources. It also directs district managers
to undertake access management planning. The recommendations in the LRUP led to the
establishment of the Babine River Corridor Park and its associated special management zone by
the Kispiox LRMP. The West Babine SRMP is consistent with the direction of the Babine LRUP
within the Kispiox Timber Supply Area. Specifically, the treatment unit zonation within the
Babine LRUP has been incorporated into the West Babine SRMP. To provide consistency in
land use across the Babine LRUP area, the LRUP zonation has been renamed to match the
terminology used within the Bulkley portion of the LRUP area. These changes are summarized
in Appendix 6, page 117.
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