ISSUES & TOPICS

This section of the BCGWLP Website is designed to help you find law related to a particular problem or topic.  By identifying the type of land and/or development you are looking for information on we can direct you to information on laws and planning processes that may be of interest.

We have three main questions that will help direct you.  Each of the following links will take you to a page with many possible answers to the question you have selected. 

For example, if you are interested in protecting privately owned land threatened by forestry you may wish to check out the “private land” section under “Who owns the area?” and the “forestry” section under “What type of development …?”

·          What are the character and values of the area? – Laws and planning processes treat different features of a watershed differently.  Are you concerned with an ocean area, land adjacent to the sea or a river, an urban area or some other type of land?  Does the area you are interested in have features that make it unusual and useful to the public, such as wildlife, water quality, nesting birds, etc.?  It is important to get an understanding of how the government regulates different issues resulting from the character of land, or the presence of environmental or social resources.

·          Who owns the area? – The legal owner of land has a lot of control over it.  Are you concerned with activity taking place on or near land that is owned by a government, a First Nation or a private landowner?

·          What type of development are you concerned about? – Is the area of interest threatened by a particular type of industry or development?  Government uses different laws and planning processes to regulate different industries. 

You may want to come back to this page several times and ask different questions about the watershed features that you are concerned with.