The Alberta Government Response to Nature Alberta Tax Recovery Land Sales Letter
The Alberta Government Response:
Dear Mr. Hindmarch:
Premier Ed Stelmach forwarded your April 12, 201 1 email concerning the transfer of tax recovery land to municipalities in southern Alberta. The Premier has reviewed your concerns and asked that I respond on behalf of the Alberta government. I welcome the opportunity to provide the following information.
Since the 1940s, the Alberta government has managed tax recovery land (private land forefeited for non-payment of taxes) under the same policies it uses to manage public land. This land has always been classified as tax recovery land and managed with the understanding that, upon request, the land could be transferred to the municipality in which it is located. For information regarding the location of tax recovery land, you may wish to contact the appropriate municipality.
These jurisdictions are in the best position to provide information on the future management plans for these lands.
Though current policy allows the Crown to transfer tax recovery land without conditions regarding its future use, Sustainable Resource Development strongly encourages municipal efforts to protect ecologically sensitive land from significant disturbance, such as intensive farming. To prevent sensitive land from being used in this manner, some municipal districts have registered restrictive covenants on tax recovery land.
The Alberta government is retaining parcels of tax recovery land that are environmentally sensitive or have high ecological value. This may include lands within or near major river valleys or coulee systems, or lands that support biodiversity and provide habitat for wildlife, including species at risk. Government is also retaining land identified through a provincial study by the Parks and Protected Areas Program as being part of nationally or internationally designated Environmentally Significant Areas. The Alberta government will continue to allow appropriate recreational activities and livestock grazing on these parcels. Information about Environmentally
Significant Areas is available online at the following location: www.t~r.alberta.ca/parks/heritaseinfocentre/environsiqareas/default.aspx.
The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan will provide further direction on land use and environmental conservation in southern Alberta. The Alberta government is now seeking input from Albertans on the South Saskatchewan Regional Advisory Council's advice to government on the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan. An online consultation workbook is available until December 19, 201 1 at www.landuse.alberta.ca. I encourage you to complete the workbook and
participate in community consultations scheduled for fall 201 1. While regional plans are being developed, the Alberta government continues to make land management decisions according to existing policy and legislation.
Thank you again for the opportunity to respond to your concerns.
Sincerely:
Mel R. Knig
Minister
Download the original response letter in PDF here
Nature Alberta Letter to The Alberta Government:
Dear Mr. Stelmach:
On February 3rd, 2011, the Alberta Government announced that it would be transferring 130 square miles of Tax Recovery Land (TRL) to southern Alberta municipalities, particularly the Municipal District of Taber and the County of Vulcan. This is a significant land base, greater in size than Elk Island National Park, and only slightly smaller than Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. Nature Alberta would like to express its grave concerns about these proposed land transfers. Our concerns are outlined in detail in the attachment to this letter and relate to the lack of transparency, public consultation and specific details as to which lands will be transferred to the municipalities and retained by the province; threats to biodiversity and at risk species; lost recreational and ranching opportunities, environmental assessment, ongoing environmental protection and land use planning.
Many of these lands, along with other provincial public lands, are part of large grazing systems that have supported a healthy ranching community and provided recreational opportunities for Albertans for the better part of a century. They also provide important habitat for a wide range of federally and provincially designated at risk wildlife and plant populations. Once transferred, the municipalities have the right to sell these lands to private interests, and these grasslands could be lost to cultivation and irrigation agriculture. This will have significant impacts on at risk species and biodiversity, as well as eliminating recreational opportunities.
Alberta’s Land-use Framework (LUF) sets out a new approach for managing public and private lands and natural resources to achieve Alberta’s long-term economic, environmental and social goals. A Regional Advisory Council was established to develop a regional plan for the South Saskatchewan Region. However, like the recent “Potatogate” fiasco, the transfer of Tax Recovery Lands before the finalization of the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan is at odds with the planning framework’s promised outcomes of “a healthy economy supported by our land and natural resources; healthy ecosystems and environment; and people-friendly communities with ample recreational and cultural opportunities”. The South Saskatchewan Regional Advisory Council has recently recommended that a Regional Plan for southern Alberta should focus on water supply, economic development and conservation needs. How does the transfer of tax recovery lands focus on conservation needs? The transfer of TRL should not occur, if at all, until the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan has been finalized.
Similar to “Potatogate” the decision to transfer TRL has been made entirely behind closed doors with no public consultations and very little information being made available to the public. In the future, decisions regarding the sale and transfer of public lands, particularly when they involve such a large land base, must involve the people of Alberta. The government must provide detailed information to the public about this deal, including which lands are to be transferred to the municipalities, which lands are to be retained by the province, and the extent to which an environmental and socio-economic assessment was conducted.
In conclusion, Nature Alberta, on behalf of its over 40 member clubs and their 5000 strong membership, strongly urges the Alberta government to reconsider the transfer of TRL to the municipality and recognize the importance of these lands for ranching, recreation, biodiversity and at risk species.
Sincerely yours,
Ted Hindmarch
Vice President, Nature Alberta
(Federation of Alberta Naturalists)
To download pdf of letter and attachement submitted to Permier click here
