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Gary Runka was a hobbyist photographer and documented his work and personal life through photography as he travelled across every region of British Columbia. His photographs document the evolution of British Columbia communities and regions over a 30 year period. Gary Runka's core interest was land and changing land uses. Many of his photographs tell a story of urban edge and/or natural resource compatibility/conflict. There are also a substantial number of photographs related to soils, including soil profiles, soil erosion and land (topography, drainage etc.) capability for agriculture. The collection also includes specific client-related photos, tied to Land Sense Ltd. client file job numbers.

The collection also documents personal travels and hiking trips throughout British Columbia and backpacking in some historic areas, such as the West Coast Trail and Cape Scott. These photographs also represent land evolution over time, including extent of alpine glaciation or biodiversity/plant species inhabiting the area.

Series consists of the client file project records of G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd., Gary Runka's consultancy business (co-owned with Joan Sawicki until 1991). G.G. Runka Land Sense Limited was incorporated as a company on 30 Nov. 1978 and dissolved on 30 Nov. 2018. Most business activity ceased after Gary Runka's death in July 2013. The company provided comprehensive professional services in land inventory, environmental assessment, integrated resource management, land and water use conflict resolution and interdisciplinary land use planning. Over the course of the company's operation, Gary Runka and his firm consulted on 681 assignments ranging from very large projects (such as the Site C project) to small residential/commercial land capability assessments.

The Land Sense Ltd. client files generally include records such as correspondence, contracts, invoices, project reports, publications, ephemera, memoranda, map excerpts, legal documents, meeting materials, clippings, and handwritten notes. Some client files are accompanied by related maps, photographs, aerial photographs, and/or digital records on storage media.

Series consists of records created and collected by Gary Runka during and after his time with the British Columbia Agricultural Land Commission. In the early 1970s, Runka served as the first general manager of the BC Agricultural Land Commission, the independent provincial body that has administered BC's Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) for over 40 years. As the first manager, Runka spearheaded the establishment of the ALR undertaking the technical tasks of setting ALR agricultural use boundaries, policies and procedures, as well as the building awareness and support for farmland preservation within government and with the public. He later served as Commission chair. Records include correspondence, informational material, publications, clippings, news releases, memoranda, symposium/conference material, reports, speech notes, and other textual material. Also includes seven maps, two buttons, six floppies, eighty slides, and one audio cassette tape.