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Dispositions Under the Public Lands Act

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A variety of uses are accommodated on Alberta public land in both the White Area (settled portion) and the Green Area (forested portion). Authority to use public land is granted through dispositions issued under the provisions of the Public Lands Act. A disposition is a land use contract that gives specific rights to a land or resource user (e.g., lease, license, or permit).

Agriculture is the primary use of public land in the settled part of Alberta, taking place on almost six million of the 10 million acres of White Area public land. This agricultural public land also provides surface access for development of mineral resources by the oil and gas industry through more than 35,000 agreements for wellsites, access roads and pipelines. Other resource uses are also accommodated in the agricultural landscape. They include sand and gravel extraction, recreation, and industrial development. These all contribute substantially to the benefits Albertans receive from public land.

In the Green Area, the primary land use is timber production, with Forest Management Agreements (FMAs) taking up a large proportion of the land base. The Green Area, including land under FMAs, also accommodates surface access for oil and gas through almost 78,000 agreements. Other land uses, including recreation, livestock grazing, sand and gravel extraction, and industrial development, also take place on Green Area public lands.

Agricultural Leases, Licenses and Permits

  White Area Green Area
No. Acreage No. Acreage
Cultivation Permit 166 6,806 12 543
Farm Development Lease Without Option 664 109,333 12 2,261
Forest Grazing License 41 14,448 120 99,051
Grazing Lease 5,439 4,981,221 263 244,233
Grazing Permit 547 112,322 47 13,193
Hay Permit 63 n/a - -
Head Tax Grazing Permit 790 720,000 14 86,413
Wild Rice Operations 59 n/a 23 n/a
Subtotal 7,769 5,944,130 491 445,694

Activities (Excluding Agriculture)

  White Area Green Area
No. Acreage No. Acreage
Dispositions to other government agencies 934 14,940 2,286 120,630
Easements (e.g., power lines) 4,366 46,381 4,896 54,684
Licence of Occupation (e.g., access road) 5,715 70,942 19,999 242,306
Mineral Surface Lease (e.g., oil/gas well)* 11,047 48,809 28,942 218,969
Miscellaneous Lease/Permit (e.g., landfill, residence) 476 25,455 1,703 23,449
Pipeline Installation/Agreement 10,320 71,790 16,334 196,992
Recreational Lease 315 33,788 129 7,888
Right-of-Entry Order (oil- and gas-related) 1,673 7,609 3,081 25,142
Surface Materials License/Lease (e.g., sand and gravel) 322 22,207 561 18,774
Subtotal 35,168 341,921 77,931 908,834

*In the White Area, a large part of the non-agricultural disposition acres overlap the agricultural acreage, especially for oil and gas and utility activities.

Sale Agreements

  White Area Green Area
No. Acreage No. Acreage
Civilian Homestead Sale 69 19,934 - -
Farm Development Lease With Option 25 10,055 - -
Farm Development Sale 542 152,994 2 485
Public/Private Land Sales 149 20,409 36 1,237
Total Term Sale Commitments* 785 203,392 38 1,722
*Long-term sales commitments, most for agricultural purposes, that are "still on the books" and being honoured by the government. Civilian Homestead Sales, Farm Development Leases With Option and Farm Development Sales are no longer issued. In 1996-97, 163 new PLS sales were issued, covering 11,570 acres.
**Land is not usually available for sale in the Green Area except for limited industrial or commercial purposes.

Total Dispositions White Area Green Area
No. Acreage No. Acreage
43,722 6,489,443 78,460 1,356,250
Figures effective March 31, 1997.
Compiled from Land Status Automated System (LSAS) data.

For updated information

Contact any of the offices below:

Alberta Sustainable Resource Development
Lands Division
Land Dispositions Branch
South Tower, Petroleum Plaza
9915 108 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2G8
Telephone: (780) 427 3570

Rangeland Management Branch
South Tower, Petroleum Plaza
9920 - 108 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2M4
Telephone: (780) 427 3595

Forestry Division
Forest Management Branch
9920 108 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2M4
Telephone: (780) 422 4590