The Fall 2019 Listing is in effect.

The new Listing of Historical Resources was released at the start of the month. 

As I mentioned in the spring, various regulatory agencies are pushing Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women (CMSW) to use the Listing of Historic Resources as the primary decision-making tool for HRIA requirements. The Listing was originally developed as a screening tool for small scale oil & gas only, and focused on preventing conflicts between small-footprint projects and known sites. As awareness and (mis)use of the Listing has grown, the need for it to include more High Potential lands has increased.  This appears to be driving an expansion of high archaeological potential areas.

There are a number of major additions to the Listing in this edition:

• a large area northeast of Fort McMurray, in Townships 94 to 96, Ranges 5 to 7 west of the 4th Meridian.
• Riparian areas, hills and dune fields in NTS 1:250K mapsheet 84A, northeast of Wabasca. (see below)
• Stream valleys and hilly terrain southwest and southeast of Conklin.
• Additional lands near Lake Wabamun and Enoch First Nation west of Edmonton.
• Large areas in southern Alberta near Nanton, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.

These changes to the listing affect any development that has not already received HRA Approval, and will trigger HRA Approval requirements for projects that previously didn't require submission through OPAC. If you think your project may now be in Listed Lands, send it to [email protected] for a review to determine any HRA requirements.