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Muskwa-Kechika Management Area

Local Strategic Plans - Oil and Gas Pre-Tenure Plans

The Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management supports and encourages responsible development of oil and gas resources across the province. The Ministry is mandated to complete oil and gas pre-tenure plans in the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area in a manner that stimulates exploration and development consistent with the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area Act. This Act requires that an oil and gas pre-tenure be completed and approved by the Minister before new oil and gas tenures can be issued. For areas outside of the Muskwa-Kechika, the need for oil and gas pre-tenure planning may be identified through strategic land use plans.

Muskwa-Kechika Pre-Tenure Plans

NEW – The revised and updated “Pre-Tenure Plans for the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area” was approved by Minister Abbott on May 20, 2004. This document provides new information covering the Besa-Prophet, Muskwa-West and Sulphur/8 Mile areas and it updates other parts of the Plans approved in June 2003. Industry can now request that tenure be posted in all pre-tenure plan areas (please refer to Figure 1 in the Pre-Tenure Plans document for additional details).

PREVIOUS PLANS – An oil and gas pre-tenure plan has been developed for the Upper Sikanni area in the Muskwa-Kechika. This plan is referred to as the Upper Sikanni Management Plan (141KB PDF) and was approved in November 1995.

The Besa-Prophet Pre-Tenure Plan Phase I was completed for a portion of the Besa-Prophet area in September 2002. The new May 2004 plan supersedes the Phase I plan so that any new tenure located in the Besa-Prophet area will be subject to the new plan. Currently policy is that tenure sold prior to approval of the May 2004 plan remains subject to the earlier Besa-Prophet Phase I plan.

In 2002-2003 the pre-tenure planning process was restructured and plans took on a new results-based format within a sustainable management framework. The plan document was formatted into a 3-ring binder; some chapters provided direction applicable to oil and gas activities anywhere in the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area and other chapters provided direction tailored to the unique values of specific plan areas. In June 2003, Minister Hagen approved the first results-based pre-tenure plan, applicable to the Halfway-Graham and southern portion of the Muskwa-West area.

• Map of the pre-tenure planning areas in the Muskwa-Kechika [pdf - 750kb]