The Rural Voice, 2004-08, Page 23about a range of approaches to
farmland preservation.
British Columbia may have the
most extensive system of farmland
preservation in North America. Kirk
Miller,chair of the BC Agricultural
Land Commission, says his province
introduced its Agricultural Land
Reserve Act in 1973. About a third of
the 4.7 million hectares involved is in
the Peace River area. The remainder
is composed of valley bottomland,
including the Okanagan, and the rich
soils south of Richmond, near
Vancouver.
Overall, the ALR Act has
succeeded. More land is protected
today than when it was introduced.
However, some of the agricultural
land near Richmond has been lost
while additional acres in the Peace
River region have been added to the
ALR program, Miller said
Meller explained any
development affecting
farmland in BC must be
approved by his commission. While
some approvals are granted, others
are denied. As a consequence, many
urban areas in BC are becoming
more densely populated.
Kevin McNaney, with Smart
Growth BC, a nonprofit, non-
governmental organization, talked
about the trend. He focussed many of
his comments on Vancouver,
although smaller BC cities and towns
are also impacted by the ALR system.
"You can't talk about farmland
preservation, unless you look at the
urban beast living on your shoulder,"
he said.
Vancouver is among the most
densely populated cities in North
America. It's built for walking and
has an excellent mass transit system,
McNaney said. Current policy for the
city reflects historical settlement
patterns dating back thousands of
years that recognized the importance
of agricultural land as an essential
resource. Urban sprawl is a relatively
new phenomena that came with the
development of the automobile and
good roads.
High density cities do not
necessarily equate with lower quality
of life, McNaney added. Vancouver
has its share of green space and less
in the way of pavement and traffic
than cities with a similar population.
"The pedestrian traffic in
Vancouver's downtown core is the
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