Saskatchewan • Protected Areas • Lands and Regulations • Issues & Advocacy

This data was accurate as of April 2008.

Page Index
Land description
Brief history
Process of development/consultation type
PAS implementation and candidate PA selection process
Results
First nations land claim settlements
Post-completion and on-going issues
Government Departments, Agencies and Legislation, for further information
Non-governmental organizations

Land description:
The current area protected in Saskatchewan is 9.0% or approximately 6.0 million hectares (2007).

The land and fresh water area of Saskatchewan is 65,103,600 hectares with the land only area being 59,167,000 hectares.  Approximately 95% of land in the north of Saskatchewan and less than 20% of the land in the south is Crown or public with the remaining being private.  There are two National Parks covering a total of 478,070 hectares, and 240 provincial parks, small recreation sites and protected areas under the parks program, covering approximately 5.9 million hectares.   Most of the above types of protected areas prohibit industrial use, with permitted access allowed in some wildlife reserves.  The Province has 4 eco-zones, 11 distinct ecoregions and 150 landscape areas as designated habitat types.

Brief History: (prior to initiation of land use plan and development)

In 1992, the Canadian Parks Ministers Council signed A Statement of Commitment to Complete Canada’s Networks of Protected Areas, by the year 2000.

In 1992, the province released its Parks System Plan as a guide and blueprint for establishing new protected lands in unrepresented areas.

In 1994, the Whitehorse Mining Initiative was signed to provide a strategic vision for a healthy mining industry in the context of maintaining healthy and diverse ecosystems in Canada.  Among other things it called for establishing an ecologically based system of protected areas.  Representatives of five sectors agreed to participate. They were the mining industry, senior governments, labour unions, Aboriginal peoples, and the environmental community.  A report from the Land Access Issue group was released in 1994.

A poster map and report of the ecoregions, using soil related features, was released in 1994 classifying the province into four ecozones, eleven ecoregions and more than 150 landscape areas.

The protected area initiative started in 1996 with adoption of the Canadian Biodiversity Agreement.

In 1997, Saskatchewan unveiled its Representative Ares Network (RAN) which considered almost 3 million hectares of lands for protection as national and provincial parks, wildlife refuges, ecological reserves and wildlife habitat lands.

Process of Development/Consultation type:
In July 1997, with the culmination of months of public consultation, Saskatchewan’s Provincial Parks: Directions for the 21^st Century was released by the Parks Tomorrow Working Group.  Six park advisory committees have been established and most parks will eventually have an advisory committee.

The province is committed to cooperative and community-based environmental protection and has forged partnerships with a variety of NGO’s, other governmental agencies and corporations.  Saskatchewan Environmental (SE, formerly SERM) is the lead agency and is assisted in its management of crown lands through Advisory Boards established to provide counsel on each representative area.

Public consultation is usually done through the numerous regional land use plans that are currently being developed for much of the northern part of the province.  The mineral industry participates through membership on the land use plan committees. Saskatchewan Industry and Resources (SIR) also ensures that the mining, and oil and gas industries are consulted on each of the RAN site proposals.  Saskatchewan Environment also does direct consultations with any communities and First Nations Reserves in the region of the proposals.

In 2004, the province unveiled A Biodiversity Action Plan for Saskatchewan’s future 2004-2009.  Based on both internal and public consultation, the plan focuses primarily on government actions.  The goal is to improve policies, programs, planning, management systems and access to information in support of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of resources by all sectors. This approach means making decisions based on an ecosystem perspective that integrates the social and economic need to develop a resource with the need to protect the integrity of the environment. 

PAS Implementation and Candidate PA selection process:
As part of the province’s biodiversity strategy, Saskatchewan Environment used a combination of general landscape features, general soil types and regional climate to define the enduring features that they used for their RAN site proposals.  From these, new candidate areas were selected to complement the features found in existing sites, to represent the 11 distinct ecoregions.  Representative areas have been identified in each of the 11 ecoregions with most of the proposed protected areas in central and northern Saskatchewan where lands were under-represented.  Representative areas were initially selected based on their ecological value and utility as benchmarks for ecological health monitoring.  However, government was able to finalize site boundaries, select appropriate designation tools and guide long term site management with the support and input from local interest groups, community residents and resource users.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Saskatchewan Environment and Saskatchewan Industry and Resources (SIR) outlines the process for the evaluation, review and approval of RAN site proposals by SIR and the mining and oil and gas industries.  SIR carries out technical evaluations of the mineral and oil and gas potential of the proposed sites using qualitative mineral resource assessments that are based on compiled geoscience, mineral deposit, and exploration information.  The goal is to locate the RAN sites in areas of low assessed mineral potential.  Fieldwork may be undertaken to enhance the geological knowledge in areas where the information is too limited to adequately assess the mineral potential.  Proposals that may be acceptable are forwarded for review and comment to a range of industry organizations, companies, and individuals, including all disposition holders in the region and the Mineral Exploration Committee of the Saskatchewan Mining Association.

Provincial surface Crown lands are administered by Saskatchewan Environment, mainly in the northern part of the province, and by Saskatchewan Agriculture Food and Rural Revitalization (SAFRR), mainly in the southern agricultural part of the province. 

Direct purchases of land through the Fish and Wildlife Development Fund are contributory to the Network.

All existing lands claims have been honoured resulting in very little conflict from stakeholders.

In May 2004, the final report of the Biodiversity Action Plan was released.  This plan “will guide conservation actions of all government sectors through to 2009”.  The goal of the plan is to increase the protection of Saskatchewan land and water from 8.7% to 12%.

Results:
Since 1997 SIR and industry have reviewed and approved 41 sites totaling 665,000 ha in the central and northern parts of the province.  These have mainly been designated as Ecological Reserves by SE, and Crown Reserves by SIR, which removes these areas from future mineral disposition. 

In their 2002 Progress Report, SE includes three Special Management Areas totaling 602,000ha in the far north.  These are still proposals on which SIR is carrying out field projects to better define the mineral potential of the areas.  The three sites will be likely approved in some form, in a number of years, but probably with boundary and size adjustments.

Over 1.2 million hectares of private land have been recognized within the RAN through cooperative partnership arrangements that include agreements on Crown lands with SAFRR and the federal government.  Contributions from private land through the Conservation Easement program and partnerships with organizations such as Ducks Unlimited may amount to a few 10,000’s of hectares.

First Nations Land Claim Settlements:
There are six treaty areas, 10 Tribal Councils and 71 First Nation communities in Saksatchewan.  The original treaties were created and settled in the 1800’s.  

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC) was first established in June 1989, as a result of an agreement between the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN). The objective was to start bilateral negotiations on treaty land entitlement and education with Saskatchewan First Nations.  The OTC played a key role in developing the equity formula for settling outstanding Treaty Land Entitlements (TLE) in Saskatchewan, which resulted in the signing of the Treaty Land Entitlements Framework Agreement in 1992, by 25 Saskatchewan First Nations.  Under this agreement, the provincial and federal governments are providing signatory First Nations with $440 million over 12 years to purchase land, mineral rights and improvements which include buildings and structures affixed to the land.  The Framework Agreement settles the land debt that is owed to these 25 First Nations because they did not receive all the land they were entitled to under Treaties 4, 6, and 10.  In addition $76 million is being provided to three Saskatchewan First Nations that signed their own Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement since 1992.

The original federal commitment under the Framework Agreement was to set apart as reserve some 0.6 million hectares. Today, around 0.5 million hectares remain to be set apart. Over 0.2 million hectares have been selected by the affected First Nations and are currently being processed.

In total, 28 Saskatchewan First Nations are now involved in Treaty Land Entitlement agreements.

Post-completion and On-Going issues:
Confirmation of the currently proposed additions to protected area. 

Completion of the land selection by First Nations under the TLE.

Government Departments, Agencies and Legislation, for further information:

Environment (Parks, Ecosystem Management) www.environment.gov.sk.ca//

Representative Areas Network

Ecological Reserves Act 1980 (2005)
Environmental Assessment Act 1980 (2002)
Environmental Management and Protection Act 2002 (2005)
Parks Act (provincial) 1986 (2005)
Representative Area Ecological Reserves Regulations 1999 (2005)
Wildlife Act 1998 (2000)
Wildlife Habitat Protection Act 1984 (2005)

Industry and Resources (Mineral Resources) www.ir.gov.sk.ca/

Mineral Resources Act 1985(2001)

Non-governmental organizationss

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