Land Use Planning

Metlakatla is actively involved in land use planning initiatives that impact our traditional territory and resources. In 2004, community natural resource planners worked with advisory committees to produce a first draft of a Strategic Land and Resource Use Plan for Metlakatla Territory. Working on a Government to Government basis, Metlakatla participated with stakeholders to develop the North Coast Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) signed in 2006, and then negotiated and agreed to a Strategic Land Use Planning Agreement (SLUPA) with the Province of British Columbia. Metlakatla also worked with the Coastal First Nations to develop a Land and Resource Protocol Agreement (LRPA) which provides for a collaborative, government to government implementation of land use planning agreements across the Central and North Coast of BC. In 2009, under the "New Relationship" initiative, Metlakatla signed a Reconciliation Protocol with the province of BC to further identify and implement initiatives that recognize Metlaktla's title, rights and interests to their territory.

As a result of our agreements, we are committed to working collaboratively with the Province to reconcile our respective stewardship ethics and land use interests through an Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) approach. EBM is defined as: “an adaptive, systematic approach to managing human activities… that seeks to ensure the co-existence of healthy, fully functioning ecosystems and human communities”.
We are proud of our land use planning accomplishments to date, which include establishment of 28 new Conservancies in the Metlakatla territory, incorporation of traditional knowledge in land use planning, identification of sustainable economic development opportunities for Metlakatla territory, and strengthening our working relationship with provincial representatives.

We continue to work to implement commitments made in our land use planning documents through strategic agreements with the provincial government, development of protected area and conservancy management plans, and internal stewardship and environmental assessment policy formulation. We also continue to work to improve the way we manage and engage in the review and approval of natural resource Development Applications and Proposals to ensure Metlakatla values are considered when evaluating proposed development projects within our territory. Finally, we continue to negotiate natural resource management strategies at our Treaty table.