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"The effects of soil compaction and organic matter retention on long-term soil productivity in British Columbia (Experimental Project 1148): Establishment Report"
"The effects of soil compaction and organic matter retention on long-term soil productivity in British Columbia (Experimental Project 1148): Establishment Report"
2023.2.2.11.1 · Item · 1996
Part of Dr. Paul Sanborn fonds

The BC Ministry of Forest's EP 1148 Long-term Soil Productivity (LTSP) study addresses two key factors— soil porosity and site organic matter—that potentially limit tree growth and site productivity in the timber-harvesting land base and that can be affected by forestry operations.

This establishment report for EP 1148, "The effects of soil compaction and organic matter retention on long-term soil productivity in British Columbia (Experimental Project 1148)", is accompanied by a floppy disk containing 12 data sets (see 2023.2.2.11.2).
"The Importance of Agriculture to BC and the Creston Valley" speech by Gary Runka
"The Importance of Agriculture to BC and the Creston Valley" speech by Gary Runka
2020.4.2.1.60 · File · Jan. 1993
Part of G. Gary Runka fonds

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "The Importance of Agriculture to BC and the Creston Valley" Creston Valley Agricultural Society.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"The speech begins with a number of recent urban newspaper headlines illustrating the level of awareness and the stress on agriculture.

The paper is broken into several major topics:
(I) The Options - in which two perspectives are outlined - one positive that agriculture has social value and is vitally important to the province and second, that agriculture is ultimately doomed.
(II) The Agricultural Land (Water) Base - 11 different land use planning issues are reviewed from an agricultural perspective. It is stressed that agriculture must become a more integrated part of the overall planning process.
(III) The Economic and Social Well Being of the Farming Community. It is noted that there are strong feelings in rural communities that government bureaucrats impose planning and resource management decisions on them rather than plan with or for them. Thus, if agriculture is to thrive it must, once again, become a more integrated part of the overall planning process and the agricultural land base must be assured.
(IV) The Ecological and Economic Sustainability of Agriculture - A key agricultural land conservation measure will be the redirection of regional and local urban growth to available and suitable lands outside the ALR. Provincial and local zoning is seen as a first step framework for managing competition for agricultural land.

Betterment Recapture - this (possibly Henry George inspired) comment reflects the need to recapture a portion of the appreciated value when agricultural land is converted to urban uses as a hedge against speculative forces.

The paper ends by encouraging farm areas like the Creston Valley to take pride in their agricultural community because the opportunity exists for a vibrant, healthy sustainable future."
"The Land Commission and the Role of the B.C.F.A. Advisory Committee" speech by Gary Runka to the BC Federation of Agriculture
"The Land Commission and the Role of the B.C.F.A. Advisory Committee" speech by Gary Runka to the BC Federation of Agriculture
2020.4.2.1.14 · File · 25 Nov. 1975
Part of G. Gary Runka fonds

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka to the BC Federation of Agriculture in Prince George entitled "The Land Commission and the Role of the B.C.F.A. Advisory Committee".

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"GGR uses this speech to particularly emphasize the work of the BCFA Regional Advisory Committees appointed to assist the Commission by providing advice.

Several specific examples are given of where the assistance of the Advisory Committees will be helpful.

GGR briefly outlines the work and challenges of the Commission to date. The speech ends with a list of six "general areas of concern". The list is very perceptive, revealing several of the challenges the Commission was facing at this early stage in the program including:

  1. Breakdown of viable production units through the sale of existing legal parcels;
  2. Rangeland tenure and management;
  3. Integrated use complications;
  4. Impact of major development proposals within or adjacent to the ALR;
  5. Small holdings owned by non-rural people in the ALR; and
  6. Urban re-direction away from the ALR and rural / urban interface conflicts.
    The last line of p. 5 is partially hidden and reads: "...more than willing to meet with any of you individually as time permits."
"The Preservation of Agricultural Land and the Land Commission Act" speech by Gary Runka
"The Preservation of Agricultural Land and the Land Commission Act" speech by Gary Runka
2020.4.2.1.22 · File · 31 Jan. 1977
Part of G. Gary Runka fonds

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "The Preservation of Agricultural Land and the Land Commission Act" at the U.B.C. Symposium for Arable Land: The Appropriate Use of a Scarce Resource. The speech includes the following attachments:

  • General Evaluation Criteria for Applications
  • Flow Chart - Exclusion Process
  • Brief Resume of the types of applications and appeals under the Land Commission Act

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"GGR comments on private property rights vs. public interests and the shifting attitudes from seeing land as merely a commodity, to bought, sold and used at will, to recognizing land as a limited natural resource.

He reviews the loss of farmland and outlines how the ALRs were established. A six point list (p. 3) is included of the methodology used to designate the ALR. This is historically an important list because it goes into some detail on the utilization of the C.L.I., the process of designating the ALR plans.

GGR outlines the problems at the time of designation of adjusting the 'natural' CLI boundaries to 'straight' legal boundaries as well as the challenges posed by the scale of mapping.

He comments that applications consume considerable amount of the Commission's resources but efforts are being made to work with local governments on planning issues. GGR closes by listing seven areas of immediate concerns (p. 7).

After 38 years it would be worth reflecting on how many of these "immediate concerns' are still challenging the Commission."
"The Rural-Urban Continuum: Tough Land Use Choices Ahead" speech by Gary Runka
"The Rural-Urban Continuum: Tough Land Use Choices Ahead" speech by Gary Runka
2020.4.2.1.42 · File · [July 1980]
Part of G. Gary Runka fonds

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "The Rural-Urban Continuum: Tough Land Use Choices Ahead" for the Vernon Rotary Rural-Urban Day.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This speech / paper does cover some old ground dealt with in other speeches but is nicely brought together here.

GGR outlines several competing land uses and uses agriculture as a starting point in setting the stage by noting that there are just 74,400 food producers and 2,400,000 other British Columbians.

An emphasis is placed on communications, especially since most planners and politicians are overwhelmingly urban oriented. When involved with rural planning it is important to understand the rural side of the fence and look back at the urban area rather than the other way around. This means "understanding the natural characteristics of the land resource and its ecosystems."

Seven issues are considered:

  1. Short-sighted premises - the supply of land is limitless and the individual has the right to use his
    land as he wishes without affecting others;
  2. The interdependence of man within natural systems is not fully appreciated;
  3. Reluctance of rural people to accept planning programs;
  4. Institutions and organizations reflect rural reality;
  5. Sprawl is not confined to urban areas and when it affects the rural area it can be a large problem;
  6. The dilemma of wanting data to make good land use decisions, but while we wait for information,
    bad decision are being made; and
  7. What is politically palatable?

The speech ends with the need for rural and urban communities to be mutually supportive. While farmland preservation isn't central to this speech the rural resource and planning theme is relevant."
"The Use of Bio-Physical Information - BC Land Commission Overview" workshop proceeding contribution by Gary Runka
"The Use of Bio-Physical Information - BC Land Commission Overview" workshop proceeding contribution by Gary Runka
2020.4.2.1.18 · File · 23 Nov. 1976
Part of G. Gary Runka fonds

File consists of a contribution to a workshop given by Gary Runka entitled "The Use of Bio-Physical Information - BC Land Commission Overview". Includes excerpts from the Proceedings from the Workshop on Ecological Land Classification in Urban Areas, Canadian Committee on Ecological Land Classification, 23 & 24 Nov. 1976, Toronto.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"Besides a copy of the speech, the package includes + a letter from Ed Wiken of the Canada Committee on Ecological (Bio-Physical) Land Classification to G.G. Runka dated October 1977 and a "Notice of Publication" + 1 copy of the published paper entitled "The Use of Biophysical Information - B.C. Land Commission Overview" by G.G. Runka, Chairman, B.C. Land Commission.

This speech was given to a workshop in Toronto and very closely resembles and reads like a draft of the published (polished) 3 page paper.

GGR remarks that:
"As you can appreciate, we often find ourselves in the centre of politically sensitive issues. For this and other reasons, the Commission might be described as being on the "firing line" with regards to the use of bio-physical information - it is the basis of our agricultural zoning and the basis of our everyday decisions regarding applications under the Act and changes to the Agricultural Land Reserve."

The speech and paper provide an important overview on the role of the Canada Land Inventory (CLI) agricultural capability ratings in the designation of the ALR and is especially important because the paper is written by the individual who was central to both the development of the CLI in B.C. and designation of the ALR.

The published paper forms pages 141 to 143 of the 167 page proceedings of the 1976 workshop."