Forestry and Parks - Request for Proposal - Evaluation of Rents under the Public Lands Act

Project Background Pursuant to s. 9.1 of the Public Lands Act, the Minister has the authority to set fees, rents, and other amounts payable for the use of public lands (“regulatory fees”). These regulatory fees need to be based on sound economic principles and align with department goals and priorities. There is, however, no current mechanism in place that would trigger a review of these fees (e.g., changing market conditions, time interval, etc.), nor is there an established method to set them. In addition, no such process has been undertaken in the past decade or more in some cases, and consequently, the current fee schedule may no longer reflect government objectives and priorities. A framework that is transparent, fair, and rigorous is needed to calculate, to maintain, to implement, and to periodically re-evaluate regulatory fees on public lands. Project Objectives Alberta Forestry and Parks (FP) is conducting an evaluation of its current rates for land rents for dispositions and approvals on public lands. The evaluation will include a comparison of current rates with those of the private sector in Alberta and other state and provincial jurisdictions (1 State + BC, SK and ON). In addition, FP wants to establish defensible benchmarks for its rents, based on clear principles of fair, efficient economic use, and environmental stewardship. A method(s) for evaluating those benchmarks, options for updating them, and a framework for capturing and implementing them needs to be developed. The project will propose considerations and directly applicable methods to evaluate and apply the following principles intended to ensure that Alberta’s stewardship of public lands is balanced, fair, and benefits all current and future Albertans.