Cultural and Historical Resources

Human settlement in the plan area dates back thousands of years. There are many archaeological and historical sites.

Most archaeological sites are found along valley bottoms and on benches beside the main rivers.

Stein and Botanie valleys are examples of traditional use areas where important local and regional gatherings took place.

The Fraser and Thompson rivers were valuable travel corridors in the early days of European exploration and subsequent development of the province.

The Harrison-Lillooet corridor was the first established route to the Cariboo gold fields and was heavily used during the Gold Rush to Barkerville.

Issues:

Lack of recognition and conservation of aboriginal cultural symbols (e.g., rocks and landforms)
Destruction of important symbols and artifacts.
Existing legislation does not protect some archaeological, traditional use and historical sites and areas.
The Heritage Conservation Act may not meet the needs of First Nations and communities to recognize and manage cultural heritage resources.

Goals:

Appropriate management, interpretation and protection of cultural and historical resources including archaeological, traditional use and historic sites

Objectives	Management Direction/Strategies	Measures of Success/Targets
1. Manage cultural and historic resources through appropriate recognition, conservation and protection measures	1.1 Improve the quantity and quality of information about traditional use areas and archaeological sites potential throughout the plan area	Completed archaeological impact assessments Designated archaeological sites under the Heritage Conservation Act Archaeological resource value mitigation measures incorporated into resource development proposals
	1.2 Inventory and evaluate pre and post-contact cultural heritage resources and manage them through appropriate means, such as formal designations (involving appropriate referrals), specific heritage resource plans and plans for other resources, according to their relative value to society (e.g., regional, provincial, national significance)
	1.3 Manage archaeological sites as components of larger complexes which reflect the impact of ecological conditions and social values on past settlement and land use
	1.4 Work closely with First Nations, in a manner that respects First Nations Indigenous Intellectual property and rights, to identify areas of traditional use and archaeological sites and to discuss appropriate management strategies
2. Minimize loss of archaeological resources, values and information through prudent management of impacts upon known and probable sites	2.1 Use Traditional Use Study information for prediction of sites	Archaeological resource value mitigation measures incorporated into resource development proposals
	2.2 Strengthen First Nations’ input on traditional uses through government-to-government protocols on LRMP implementation
	2.3 Do archaeological impact assessments as appropriate and manage impacts to latest guidelines
	2.4 Consider the relative values of specific sites and balance archaeological values in the context of other resource values when making site recommendations
3. Manage First Nations cultural symbols (e.g., traditionally used plants, animals, and natural features), so that their value is acknowledged in planning for other resource activities
4. Consider interests of the Province, First Nations, tenured licensees and local communities and encourage dialogue to reconcile issues	4.1 Encourage dialogue between First Nations, resource licensees and government agencies to improve processes by which resource development and cultural heritage interests can be reconciled	Cultural and historical resource agreements between First Nations, resource licensees and government agencies
5. Manage location information for culturally important symbols and archaeological resources to ensure that the interests of the Province, tenured licensees and First Nations are addressed		Completed heritage resource plans

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