The B.C. ministry with the biggest name and footprint in provincial history is being broken up as part of a reform of rural and resource development, Premier John Horgan says.

Newly elected Stikine MLA Nathan Cullen has been assigned the task of reorganizing what is now officially known as the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development into two government departments. That will leave Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy with a focus on forests and rural development as B.C.91裸聊视频檚 first female forests minister. Cullen, a long-time northwest B.C. MP appointed 91裸聊视频渕inister of state91裸聊视频� or assistant to Conroy, will likely end up in charge of the vast Crown lands and resource roads that wind through them.

91裸聊视频淲hen we were sworn in in 2017, it was my desire to have a stand-alone ministry of forests, something that the former B.C. Liberals had rolled in to what is now one of the most unwieldy ministries within government,91裸聊视频� Horgan said after revealing his new cabinet lineup Nov. 26. 91裸聊视频淢inister Cullen91裸聊视频檚 job, working with Minister Conroy, is to disaggregate that, and take component parts and move them to where they might be better utilized.91裸聊视频�

The directive is included in Conroy91裸聊视频檚 , given to each minister by Horgan. Lands and natural resources will be a full-scale department with significant staff, unlike the mental health and addictions ministry that essentially advises the health ministry.

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91裸聊视频淭he ministry was created by Gordon Campbell just days before he resigned as premier,91裸聊视频� Horgan said. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 been existing for almost a decade without any amendments or visions, and I think it91裸聊视频檚 an important part of our economic vitality, certainly forests, but also to have the permitting and other processes separated so that they can have a stand-alone minister.91裸聊视频�

Campbell91裸聊视频檚 logic for combining forests and lands was that roads, bridges and sites for logging, mining and other industrial development were linked with care of wildlife, as B.C. struggled with dwindling caribou herds and other conservation issues. Wildlife was moved from environment into what became a super-ministry in charge of more than 90 per cent of the province91裸聊视频檚 area.

Cullen was elected to replace Doug Donaldson, who retired as Skeena MLA after three and a half years as forests and lands minister. One of his last projects was embarking on a 91裸聊视频渉olistic91裸聊视频� old-growth forest preservation strategy, starting with nine regions where logging is deferred for consultations with Indigenous communities in each region.

The nine areas total 3,350 square km, including the Seven Sisters region near Smithers, Incomappleaux Valley, Crystalline Creek and Stockdale Creek watersheds in the Kootenays, the Upper Southgate River that drains to Bute Inlet on the south coast, Skagit-Silverdaisy near the U.S. border and H91裸聊视频橩usam, McKelvie Creek and Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island.

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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