Disposition Process

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Status of Alberta’s Regional Plans Courtesy of Land Use Planning Hub

There is a process in place when applying for a disposition. This process ensures that the application is in agreement with the Regional Land-use Plan and Integrated Land Management Strategies (ILMs). We learned, in Unit 1, that Alberta is broken up into Green Areas and White Areas. Alberta is also divided into seven Regional Land-use Plans. Each of these seven areas has Green Areas within them, and the regional plans reflect their distinct geographical, environmental, and social-economical differences.


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Land Use Planning Hub

 



Each of the regions also have additional growth management, intermunicipal, municipal, and area structure and development plans within them. For example, the Bighorn area has an Access Management Plan that must be taken into consideration when applying for a timber disposition.

The disposition process takes time, sometimes years, but ensures that all stakeholders’ concerns are heard.

Bighorn Backcountry Monitoring Group is made up of area users including First Nations and youth, motorized and non-motorized users, hunters and anglers, municipal government and forestry, energy and government users.



Access Management Plans are also influenced by the environmental concerns, such as watershed management and sustainability plans, as well as what other industries are in the region.

Different dispositions have different requirements. As noted in the section on disposition types, smaller dispositions may simply be completed at a municipal or Agriculture and Forestry office. More complicated dispositions, such as a disposition for logging, may require many steps.



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The hierarchy and relationship of provincial to municipal land use plans.
Courtesy of Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA), https://auma.ca/


Click each collapsible row to view information.

Pre-application planning helps determine if you want to proceed with planning and submitting an application before putting the work into an application. The pre-planning documents must be submitted with a disposition application for it to be accepted.

There are several levels and types of pre-planning that must be done for an application to be accepted. Some of these include:

  • a Landscape Analysis using the Landscape Analysis Tool (LAT).
    • The LAT identifies sensitive landscape features and how they interact with proposed activities. The report created is required for all Alberta Land disposition applications.
  • a Land Standing Report
    • This is a government report that can be purchased online and identifies existing stakeholders and potential conflicts.
  • identification of water bodies and wetlands
  • review of Alberta Land Stewardship Act and Land-use Framework Regional Plans to make sure that the disposition is in alignment with them

The information collected in Step 1 (Pre-Application) is used as a stepping-stone to

  • complete a legal survey of the area, completed by a surveyor certified with the Alberta Surveyor’s Association.
  • complete a Sensitive Species Survey


Once the disposition application is submitted, a file number for government contact is also applied for at this time.

The disposition application goes through two reviews. A technical review determines if all the technical information, such as land and sensitive species surveys, are done correctly. An administrative review makes sure the application is complete and accurate.

If either review reveals something missing, the application is rejected and the applicant has to submit the disposition again with the corrected or missing information.

If the application is accepted, the government agency provides public notice, often on websites and in newspapers, of the possibility of a disposition being awarded. This gives Albertans concerned about a particular application an opportunity to submit a "statement of concern," a written submission that outlines specific concerns about an application. A statement of concern may be filed by anyone who believes they may be directly and adversely affected by an application.

Once an application submission has been accepted, the next step is to find out if a referral within or outside the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests is required for additional input. This may include referral to provincial government resource managers and municipalities, who review and identify any concerns related to their mandate. Their concerns are forwarded to the Merit Review to consider.

A merit review considers many factors, including whether the

  • the land use is acceptable and in the best interest for that land base
  • the proposed disposition is in compliance with Alberta land management regional plans
  • the proposed disposition does not impact or conflict with any existing land uses or stakeholders
  • the disturbance limits of applicable disturbance standards are being met

The government of Alberta staff work with the industries involved within the area to best minimize impacts to landscape sensitivities. The goal is to get consent from other stakeholders identified in the Land Standing Report. Stakeholders may include First Nations and Métis, other industries, such as oil and gas, tourism, and special interest groups.

If the Merit Review finds that the disposition cannot work because of conflict, compliance, or environmental issues, the application is rejected; otherwise, the application is sent to the director.

Finally, the Director of Forest Tenure for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry considers all surveys, studies, reviews, and referrals; the director then grants or rejects the disposition.