Halfway River First Nation and Province launch landscape planning pilot

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C — The provincial government and Halfway River First Nation (HRFN) have announced a partnership to balance the Treaty 8 First Nation’s land and industrial interests.

According to a press release on July 22nd, HRFN and the province will move forward on a landscape planning pilot to protect Treaty 8’s rights and support restoration and sustainable development in northeastern B.C.

The province also announced an agreement with HRFN to award the nation a petroleum and gas tenure.

HRFN Chief Darlene Hunter says the agreement will ensure that oil and gas development is sustainable and managed with the values of her Nation in mind.

“We look forward to our continued collaboration with industry and government on development activities within Halfway River First Nation territory,” said Hunter.

“This has the potential to bring long-term benefits to our Nation.”

Hunter made the announcement with Josie Osborne, the province’s minister of energy, mines, and low-carbon innovation. 

Osborne says her government is committed to collaboration, ensuring that land and water resource stewardship decisions will give industry greater predictability regarding where projects may occur.

“We will continue to work with the community to bring good jobs and build a stronger future for everyone in the region,” said Osborne.

The landscape planning pilot is the first development plan completed under the consensus document and letter of agreement signed between the Province and HRFN last January.

It promotes and supports Halfway River to pilot new operational measures to mitigate the impacts of development on the Nation’s Treaty 8 rights. 

The agreement will also help the Province and Nation better manage the potential cumulative effects of new development while prioritizing the Nation’s key values, including spiritual places, connectivity, resilient landscapes, camping places, water, and food and medicine.

The new rules improve predictability for industry and demonstrate collaborative progress in balancing economic development and Treaty 8 rights. Implementation of the pilot replaces recently introduced petroleum and natural gas disturbance caps with new measures intended to address cumulative effects, which include:

-Avoidance of direct effects, like vegetation clearing, and indirect effects, like sensory intrusion on spiritual places, trapping cabins and cultural camping spots;

– Reduction in additional linear disturbance, like access or utility routes for exploration and development;

– Routing linear infrastructure to avoid sensitive ecosystems and habitat features;

-Air quality monitoring, and adherence to water use and quality maintenance per regulatory requirements and permit conditions.

The direct award of petroleum and natural gas tenure to Halfway River is a first-of-its-kind initiative that gives the Nation the right to determine how best to explore for and produce petroleum and natural gas resources in the tenure area. 

According to the release, the area covers approximately 34,000 hectares of Halfway River territory and was part of an agreement reached in January 2023 between the parties that began with talks in 2017.

More details about the announcement can be found here.