Unit 6 - The Alberta Land Stewardship Act


Lesson 1: Foundation for the Land-use Framework


The Goals of the Alberta Land Stewardship Act
The purposes of the Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA) will be precisely stated in the next part of this unit. For now, we will give the four major goals of the Act in very simple terms:

  • to identify Alberta's economic, environmental, and social objectives pertaining to the use of our forests

  • to provide a plan to meet the forest-use needs of future generations of all people

  • to coordinate the decisions made by planners concerning people, resources, and environment

  • to respond to cumulative effects of human activity on our forests so as to enable sustainable development


In general, the Alberta Land Stewardship Act will create more certainty for industry. When regional plans are in place, industry will know how their activities fit within that plan. This will give them more certainty in planning their own activities and investments.

 

The ALSA as the Foundation of the Alberta Land-use Framework

Keeping in mind what you have learned in the previous unit (example, Alberta's Land-use Framework), it is important to understand the following four important functions of the Alberta Land Stewardship Act and its accompanying regulations:

  • It establishes the legislative foundation for the "Land-use Framework". The Land-use Framework identifies cumulative effects management as an important component of IRM (Integrated Resource Management).

  • It provides authority for the development and approval of Alberta's seven regional plans.

  • It establishes a Land-use Secretariat to support the development and implementation of the regional plans.

  • It has an impact on municipal government planning and plans conducted by Forest Management Agreement holders.