This project refers to the re-evaluation of Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) in Bulkley Nechako District, BC, Canada. ALR is the provincial zone designated as the agriculture uses with restrictions on non-agricultural activities (PLAC, 2014). Due to the previous ALR plan lacking of consideration of threats coming from non-agricultural land uses (i.e. school, sewage treatment area, sports field, park, building, church, and infrastructure), river and lake buffer, mining sites, agricultural land capability class 7 and crown land, we re-conduct this research and the result of the announced total ALR (373,465 ha) is almost half more than our re-calculate version (260,180 ha) (Coster et al., 2015). Therefore, the total land suitable for agricultural activity is way less than the original plan.
Our team consists of 4 students-Coster, A., Jiang, Z., Lawrenuk, K. and Sohn, S. We distributed our responsibilities according to each member’s strengths while each of us is in charging of two or three maps that contribute to the different aspects of analysis and the final map. During the process, I learned team spirit and how important it is for everyone dedicating to this project. From my perspective, I valued my analyzing experience most as it embodies research, critical thinking and map application, which bettered my comprehensive understanding of GIS. Also, I appreciate all the other members of our team. Without them, an individual cannot finish the project in such an efficient manner and everyone learned from and helped each other. Thus, special thanks to their contributions and time spent on this project.
In this project, we sourced data from various platforms, namely DataBC, BCStats and GeoGratis, and added them to a general geodatabase that we created through ArcCatalog. Besides, we utilized buffer, merge, union, mosaic, clip and reclassify commands most frequently in order to analyze maps through either attribute tables or visualized features. The greatest issue, I think, is concerning with limited high-quality data that are available to the public, such as coarse resolution and outdated data can stimulate error and uncertainty to our conclusion. Therefore, to minimize this problem, we retrieved most recent data from credible organizations and government; In addition, generalized all their projections to Albers.
In conclusion, this project assessed the ALR in Bulkley Nechako District in a more comprehensive way. However, further research is also needed due to changing environment and ongoing emerged new problems. Thus, we need to put more thought into it so as to keep a human-eco balance.
References:
Provincial Agricultural Land Commission. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.alc.gov.bc.ca/alc/content/alr-maps/living-in-the-alr
Coster, A., Jiang, Z., Lawrenuk, K. and Sohn, S. (2015). Final Report – Bulkley Nechako: Agricultural Land Reserve. Retrieved from https://spassz.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/l1c-bulkleynechako-final-report-copy.pdf
The entire final report can be viewed from here: Bulkley Nechako ALR Final Report
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