Land Use Objectives Order for Howe Sound and Sea-to-Sky Area
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Feedback is accepted until July 20, 2026 at 4:00 pm
Overview
Dates: May 22 to July 20, 2026
Who: Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
What: Draft Land Use Objectives Order that implements forest management direction contained within the 2025 Squamish Nation Land Use Planning Agreement (Phase 2)(PDF, 17.5MB) for cultural and environmental values.
Where: Howe Sound and Sea-to-Sky area
Why: To better understand public interests and values as they relate to the forest management direction contained in the draft order. A 60-day public review and comment period is also legally required by the Land Act, Land Use Objectives Regulation.
How: Written submissions by mail or email
Engagement summary
This draft land use objectives order represents an important step in the implementation of the 2025 Squamish Nation Land Use Planning Agreement (Phase 2).
The proposed land use objectives in the order would improve forest stewardship within 33 Siiyamin (cultural) sites and 6 Special Cultural Management Areas by helping to protect Indigenous cultural values and forest biodiversity. In particular, the objectives address stewardship topics such as cultural heritage areas, old forests, mature forests, large cedar trees, riparian and wetland areas, and culturally modified trees.
The legal objectives in this Order would inform future forest practices conducted by forest licensees in accordance with their forest stewardship plans.
We are seeking public input before establishing long-term legal land use objectives for forestry management within the 33 Siiyamin (cultural) sites and 6 Special Cultural Management Areas.
The 60-day public review period will run from May 22, 2026 until 4:00 pm on July 20, 2026. Please review the submission guidelines below. Written comments on the draft Squamish Nation Land Use Objectives Order (PDF, 10.9MB) can be mailed or e-mailed to:
Regional Initiatives, Land Use Planning and Cumulative Effects Division
Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, South Coast Region
200 – 10428 153rd Street
Surrey BC V3R 1E1
Email: SouthCoastLandUse@gov.bc.ca
Written submission guidelines
All British Columbians, including employers, employees, organizations, professionals, and Indigenous communities are invited to make written submissions to SouthCoastLandUse@gov.bc.ca before July 20, 2026 at 4:00 pm.
Please consider the draft Land Use Objectives Order (PDF, 10.9MB) when preparing and organizing written submissions. Written submissions should be no longer than five pages in Word or PDF format.
Submissions must meet the following criteria:
- Does not contain profanity or content that is defamatory, threatening, hateful, personally disparaging, harassing, indecent, vulgar, obscene, illegal, immoral or sexually explicit (partially masking profanity or other unacceptable language by substituting asterisks or other symbols into a word is not acceptable if the word remains recognizable)
- Does not appear to, or actually, infringe the copyright, trademark, right of privacy, right of publicity or any other intellectual property or other proprietary right of any third party
- Does not contain information about, or images (e.g., photographs, videos or illustrations) of, any person other than the person submitting the content
- Does not advertise any product, person or organization, or direct attention to another website for personal gain
- Does not provide links to, or information about, other sites that contain unlawful, objectionable or inappropriate content
- Does not make unproven or unsupported accusations against individuals, groups or organizations
- Does not appear to be spam-like messaging, a repeat posting or a template letter writing campaign
- Is not far off-topic
All submissions will be read and considered as part of the response summary.
Supporting documents
Digital spatial files showing where the proposed land use objectives would apply can be viewed or downloaded:
- KMZ (for Google Earth)
- iMAPBC (layer catalogue: Land Use Plans/Squamish Nation Land Use Planning Agreement (Phase 2))
- Click map image below to enlarge
How your contribution makes a difference
Your feedback can help to improve the content of the draft order and better inform the B.C. government of your interests in the Howe Sound and Sea-to-Sky area. We welcome your comments on how the proposed land use objectives in the draft order may support, or impact, your values and interests in the area.
The Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (or delegate) must consider any written comments received within the 60-day review period before making an order decision.
Related engagements
