West Babine Sustainable Resource Management Plan

Management Zone, ensuring that values of significance are maintained along the entire Babine
River system.
The Babine Landscape Unit Plan, which borders the West Babine, has been prepared by the
Bulkley Forest District to provide more detailed direction consistent with the Bulkley LRMP. The
Landscape Unit Plan provides detailed management direction for biodiversity, including
landscape corridors, grizzly habitat, and fish habitat as well as objectives and strategies for the
Bulkley portion of the Babine River Special Management Zone.
The Bulkley TSA also has a Coordinated Access Management Plan in place that guides access
across the eastern portion of the Babine watershed. The West Babine SRMP access management
direction is consistent with the intent of the Coordinated Access Management Plan in the Bulkley
TSA.
1.1.4.5 Plan Process
The West Babine SRMP was initiated by the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management in
October 2001, to complete a co-ordinated access management plan. This plan would fulfill an
outstanding government commitment made as a result of the Babine LRUP in 1992.
Concurrently, a priority government initiative was to complete landscape level biodiversity
planning. The biodiversity elements in the plan were based on the biodiversity guidebook and
the Babine LRUP treatment unit zonation. The access management direction was developed
within a results-based framework that provided flexibility in access management, grizzly bear
protection and timber access. A work plan , circulated to the Babine River LRUP monitoring
committee detailed this process, with a commitment to have the plan completed by March, 2002.
This first draft of the SRMP was completed with substantial involvement from WLAP and the
Kispiox forest industry.
Draft 1 of the West Babine SRMP was released for an informal review amongst stakeholders,
agencies, Gitxsan and the public in July 2002. Comments critical of the plan were received from
MoF, WLAP, the Babine River Foundation (BRF), the Gitxsan and New Skeena. In short, the
comments suggested that the SRMP provided little certainty around acceptable uses on the land
base, did not fairly consider an economic base broader than forestry, did not recognize the
influence the plan would have on the Babine River Corridor Park and did not consider the
economic impact on the forest sector. In response to these comments, MSRM committed to
further consultation with these parties to ensure that the next draft of the plan would better reflect
the interests articulated. Key changes to the plan included: integration of the Gitxsan culture
throughout the plan, spatially defined access management direction, identification of visual
quality objectives, refinement of the Atna/Shelagyote and Babine River SMZs, and additional
sections were added on the West Babine economy including mining, trapping, and fishing.
Additionally, a socio-economic analysis was completed for the plan area. The resulting plan was
labelled draft 2 and was released for full public review in July 2003.
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