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File consists of an untitled published piece in Country Life Column by Gary Runka.

Commentary by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This article focuses a report of the B.C. Round Table on the Environment and the Economy - "A Better Way - Creating a Sustainable Development Strategy for B.C." published in 1990. The thrust of the article concerns the disregard for agriculture in the report. The report identifies six key principles which amount to reasonable objectives / goals but in contrast agriculture fares badly in the report. Three examples are provided of the report's failings with respect to agriculture. Four key questions are asked including, "How can we best protect the limited high capability agricultural land base from alternate use competition?"

File consists of an untitled speech to the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce regarding land use planning and its impact on the food producer.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"These 3 pages of notes prepared for a speech given to the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce are packed with several important themes and is a more refined version of [2020.4.2.1.24].

Some of the important themes mentioned include:

1. Preserving the option of agriculture in BC will not be accomplished by preserving agricultural land alone;
2. Prior to the ALR we were losing our best farmland first;
3. BC is attempting to become more self-sufficient in food production;
4. BC agriculture is diverse but lacks large volumes of any single commodity;
5. Rural areas must be carefully planned to protect food production and not thought of as a storehouse of future urban development;
6. With land use planning it is often difficult to see benefits in the short term but losses for a few people should amount to long term gains for many; and
7. Several examples are provided of initiatives aimed at protecting rural areas, habitat etc.

The speech notes include the first mention of the work of the Ministry of Agriculture's Greenzone Committee and its efforts to find ways of reducing land use conflicts.

Many of these themes have been considered in previous speeches but are consolidated here and the paper ends with a need for food producers to get involved in land use planning process."

File consists of an untitled speech about resource conflicts given by Gary Runka to the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) Annual General Meeting in Vancouver.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"The original version consists of 3 pages of hand-written notes that were accompanied by slides (not available). The hand written notes have been transcribed.

GGR outlined several societal needs and wants but emphasises that we don't have enough land to provide for all these needs and desires if we keep planning in a haphazard manner.

He urges environmentalists to be prepared technically and avoid the image of being opposed to everything. He calls for greater integration in dealing with resource issues.

GGR was the keynote, guest speaker at the meeting."

File consists of notes for an untitled speech about "Experiences at the B.C. Land Commission" by Gary Runka at a Habitat 1976 panel at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver between May 31-June 11,1976.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"GGR gave this speech as part of a panel at Habitat 1976.

The speech outlines the scope of the legislation, background of a provincial zoning technique (based on technical information), the establishment of the ALR plans in each of 28 regional districts and commentary on some of the projects the Commission is involved with.

Providing context to the land-use planning environment that the B.C. farmland preservation program and ALR were thrust into in the mid-1970s, GGR remarks that:
"In many cases we have local governments making their first real strong attempt at land use planning. Backed by the strength of the Land Commission Act it is seen as a real change to control urban sprawl and linear development that is detrimental from other planning points of view, as well as from the agricultural land point of view."

The fact that GGR was asked to be part of the panel at the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements speaks to the regard given the B.C. farmland preservation program."

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Urban Growth Impact on Rangelands in British Columbia" for the Society for Range Management - Pacific Northwest Section in Spokane, Washington.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"In this speech GGR focuses on a single example of the Lauder Ranches at Glimpse Lake (north east of Merritt and about 12 km north of Douglas Lake) and states that his perspective for the purpose of his presentation is to look through the eyes of one that perceives the utilization of the forage resource to best advantage is for red meat production as opposed to the view of the urban planner.

In this example it appears the "urban" land use is a proposal to subdivide land along the lake shore for residential / recreation purposes.

GGR outlines the potential impacts on the long standing ranching operation. In his summary he mentions his concern with regard to recent changes to the (now) Agricultural Land Commission Act in stating, "...I think recent amendments to the Agricultural Land Commission Act opening appeal of Commission decisions to the political arm is going to cause serious problems (politicians do not understand the impact question)..." This is a reference to the appeal mechanism to ELUC.

There is also an appeal for beef producers to get involved more directly in planning and political processes which is a theme GGR has expressed in previous speeches."

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting existing land use for the Van Bow neighbourhood area.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting existing land use for the Van Bow neighbourhood area.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting existing zoning for the Van Bow neighbourhood area. Also includes two hand-drawn mylar overlays for the map; one showing "Opportunities & Constraints" such as housing age and condition and the other showing "Subdivision Activity" over decades of development in the Van Bow area.

Item is a map depicting the Vancouver Carney study neighbourhood area in Prince George.

Item is a map depicting land use in the Vancouver Carney study neighbourhood area in Prince George. Also includes two mylar overlays that show the outlines of "unit 2" and "unit 3" development areas.

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Vegetable Situation in BC".

Photograph depicts a view of Burns Lake, as seen from the survey crew's temporary lodgings at the cabin of Ben[?] Smith. Wyness notes in the photograph transcription that float planes landed in the bay below the buildings visible in this image.

Photograph depicts a view of the Fraser River from what Wyness calls "Fraser Mountain". There are a number of places named "Mount Fraser" in British Columbia, but the exact location of where this photograph was taken is unclear.

Photograph depicts a view of Fraser River from the Soda Creek hill in June 1936. Wyness notes that photograph was taken at mile 200, which was approximately 167 miles from Ashcroft.

Photograph depicts a view of Fraser River from the Soda Creek hill in October 1936. The town of Soda Creek is barely visible at right.

Photograph depicts a view of Front Street and Quesnel Hotel from Fraser River Bridge in Quesnel. Visible buildings include the Quesnel Hotel Cafe, the Quesnel Hotel, and John A. Fraser & Co. Ltd.

Photograph depicts a view of Hudson Bay Mountain taken from the Telkwa water tower. The Monckton survey crew tent, their car, and the railway track is also visible.

Photograph depicts a view of the city of Prince George looking west from the east hill. The confluence of the Fraser River and Nechako River is visible to the right. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway bridge is visible at centre. The current location of where this photograph may have been taken is likely somewhere near where Highway 16 rises on the hill past the correctional centre (jail).

Photograph depicts a view of the town of Quesnel from a southeast hill. Fraser River and the Fraser River Bridge are visible at left, the Quesnel River at right.

View of the road descending to the waterfront. Buildings and forested area are visible on either side of street. Mountains clear in the background.

Photograph depicts a view of the town of Telkwa, BC from the perspective of the Telkwa water tower.

Photograph depicts a view of the community of Williams Lake, taken from the Chilcotin Road to the west.

Drawing depicts visual notes taken at the 2020 Public Health Summer Institute with the theme "Think Globally, Act Locally: Public Health and the Anthropocene". Themes related to the COVID-19 pandemic are depicted.

This street map of the VLA area in Prince George includes property outlines and street numbers.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting the VLA neighbourhood proposed zoning in 1976.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting zoning proposed by Prince George Alderman A. Stauble for the VLA neighbourhood.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting zoning proposed by the Prince George City Planner for the VLA neighbourhood.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting public representations at the VLA neighbourhood zoning hearing that occurred on April 12, 1976.

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Western Canadian Agriculture - A Look to the Future" for an unknown audience.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"As the title suggests, this speech is largely a look at agriculture in Western Canada and therefore breaks from many of the familiar themes in GGR's speeches and includes several interesting statistics.

For example in 1921 the average Canadian farmer could feed 11 people. By 1981 the average farm could feed 56 people. [In 2012 The average farm in Canada produced enough food to feed 120 people every day.] The average Canadian expenditure of income on food after taxes:
1947 - 25%
1969 - 22%
1980 - 18%

The speech considers the following topics:
A. The changing Picture of Western Canadian Agriculture

• Energy Costs
• Cropping Options
• Northern Expansion
• Diversification, Intensification, Specialization
• Foreign Ownership

B. Agricultural Land Use Planning
C. Integrated Land Use Issues"

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Who Gets to Use the Land and Water? - the Urban and Agricultural Land Needs of the Okanagan Valley" for the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, UBC and Okanagan College.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"Although the ALR and ALC Act are not mentioned directly, the paper is focused on agriculture and rural planning.

When speaking of the competition for land and the pressure agricultural land is under, an interesting statement is included referring to the fact that "the fluctuation" in Washington State's apple crop is greater than the entire annual Okanagan production.

The paper reviews pressures on agriculture and urban land uses. Under "Satisfying the Needs (Options and Interrelationships)" seven points are made including "Understanding the land is the most important prerequisite to its wise and proper use," and that Integrated Natural Resource Management and Land Use Planning must be closely tied.

The paper ends with a point of optimism - "I see that potential to increase our understanding of the natural processes and to explore the questions of who gets to use the land and water from a view point somewhere in the orchard or countryside rather than from Main Street. That's a beginning."