Land Use Plan
Office of Land Management
“Blackfoot people, our land, our good intentions”
“Siksikawa, kitaw’hsinnoon, Kitsokitsihtanninoon”
Oki!
We at Lands Management are embarking on a journey and you are all invited.
Lands Management is undertaking development of a Land Use Plan. Siksika people have always been the original stewards of the land, traditionally it has been unwritten. But it has come to the point where we need to come up with a Land Use Plan to ensure we have land that is healthy, cared for, and able to provide for today and our future generations.
Here are some key points we would like you to consider.
Where We Started:
- On January 18, 2022, the Siksika Nation Chief and Council passed a BCR that gave direction and full support to Lands Management to undertake the process of creating a 20-year Land Use Plan.
- Funding for a three-year process was obtained from National Aboriginal Land Manager Association NALMA a national organization that support first nation land management offices throughout Canada.
- The work is being carried out in three phases: (1) Assessing the Need & Capacity Development, (2) Development of a Land Use Plan, and (3) Implementation of Land Use Plan which requires periodic 5 – year review and update of the plan.
What Has Happened So Far:
- Phase 1 – Assessing the Need & Capacity Development has been completed. This included a review and summary of all related background information within Siksika administration department(s) and related entities as well as one-on – one interviews with these groups.
- Phase 2 – Completion of Land Use Plan is now underway which leads us to reaching out and asking for your help.
- An important component is community engagement and working with Elders on culturally related subject matter.
- We have completed on reserve school engagements at Siksika High School, COSS, Crowfoot School and Store front and the response has been great.
- LMSA is asking for your help by attending engagement events coming up to help inform and guide what this plan will look like. The tentative timeline is May through July 2023. We will be having these engagements in various communities. Engagement schedules will be provided soon.
- We are looking to enlist your help to obtain the knowledge that all people hold, we are looking for all feedback and will not discourage any.
Land Use Inventory:
- As part of this community conversation on land, Siksika Land Management will also be conducting a Land Use Inventory of all agricultural activities and operations, along with small businesses throughout Siksika Nation.
- As it stands now, Siksika lands encompass approximately 210, 080 acres of land. Some of the more primary uses of land are community pastures and cultivated agriculture land. Across the reserve there are thirty community pastures, which make up about 74, 122 acres, this does not account for private pastures.
- As for cultivated agricultural land, this is at roughly 47,760 acres. Most of these cultivated agricultural lands are situated in the west end, and southern portions of the reserve. To some this may sound like a lot but considering population it is not that much – this is a fixed land base, and we are now at more than double the population used to calculate the size at creation of the reserve.
- The Land Use Inventory engagement process will be valuable information as Siksika Nation plans as our population grows and the need for more community developments and infrastructure is needed to accommodate our people. It is important that we get an accurate representation of these agricultural activities and operations updated as we move towards a more sustainable future for how Siksika Lands are utilized.
- This engagement will consist of Siksika Land Management conducting interviews and surveys with local nation members to gather relevant information regarding livestock, farming operations, and any other relevant information in relation to agricultural activities and operations on Siksika lands. Tentative dates for this have been determined to be from May to July of 2023.
We hope to see you all soon at community engagements or during the inventory engagements! For more information, please come by the LMSA office.