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Home > Integrated Landscape Management > Regional Priority Land uses: A Mineable Oilsands Strategy

In 2005 the Government of Alberta developed a Mineable Oilsands Strategy for the northeastern part of the province. The proposed strategy boldly suggested that oilsands mining should receive priority in the region while other land uses, infrastructure, and ecological targets be adjusted to ensure that economic returns from the oilsands are maximized. The Mineable Oilsands Strategy represented one of as many as six regional strategies that would identify different priority land uses depending on the natural resources and ecological conditions present. This sort of land zoning is not new but it does depart from the “multiple use” emphasis in the past.

The document provides an excellent starting template for development of an ILMM scenario. A primary objective of this project is to demonstrate the utility of ILMMs as a means of exploring management and policy options before strategies become fixed. The modeling team will attempt to translate the Mineable Oilsands Strategy into explicit scenarios to run in ALCES. ALCES has already been parameterized for northeastern Alberta and through a series of workshops, we will work with government and industry partners to:

1. Project oilsands mining, forest harvesting, population growth, and infrastructure development in the region given the new strategy.
2. Establish clear targets for other resource sectors and for ecological indicators.
3. Report on economic indicators (resource revenues such as barrels of oil produced, royalties, wood supply), social indicators (population growth, employment, infrastructure) and ecological indicators (old forest, woodland caribou, moose, bird and mammal communities).
4. Determine whether targets can be realistically met under the current strategy.

We will then build on the above by developing alternative scenarios that explore how objectives not met in the base scenario can be achieved. These alternative scenarios could range from relatively minor policy and regulatory re-alignment to more radical approaches that consider creative economic incentives and regulations. These could include conservation easements and transferable development rights. The latter will be done in collaboration with Dr. Marian Weber (Alberta Research Council) and Dr.Vic Adamowicz (Department of Renewable Resources).

Last Modified: 2007-11-15