Reservation/Notation Program
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The Reservation/Notation Program used by the Alberta Government enables a variety of resource uses to be accommodated, while maintaining the integrity of the land base and its ecosystem. This program maintains an inventory of land use information and decisions, that can be used by the public land manager to protect, manage or make available public land for various uses. Interests in public land (e.g., watershed and soil conservation, recreation, timber, wildlife habitat, agriculture, historic and archaeological sites, and municipal and industrial needs) are formally registered on government records in the form of notations.
Information about public land, including reservations/ notations, is available to anyone through private registries throughout Alberta. Information such as this will inform prospective users of potential conflicts.
The three main types of notations used by the government are described below. There are other types of notations that are only used for very specific purposes. All notations are reviewed periodically.
Protective Notations
(PNT), usually called reservations, are placed by public agencies in consultation with the public land manager. They identify land and resources that are managed to achieve particular land use or conservation objectives. Protective notations identify the agency that has placed the reservation, show allowable land uses and may give management guidelines for integrating different uses on the land. Restrictions on land use are based on the characteristics of the land itself. These include soil, vegetation and surface materials and drainage. Local and regional factors such as fish and wildlife requirements or timber regeneration and access, also receive consideration.
A protective notation may be triggered by an application for a new or different land use, a municipal or provincial plan (e.g., Integrated Resource Plan) or other government programs. Protective notations specify different levels of allowable land use - limited development, grazing only, or no agricultural use at all. The public may request a review of the notation if they wish to have specific parcels considered for a land use that has been identified as incompatible.
Disposition Reservations
(DRS) are similar to leases. They authorize government use of public land for public works (e.g., drainage structures, gravel pits, fire lookouts).
Consultative Notations
(CNT) are used to "flag" an interest in the land (e.g., administrative, planning or land inventory process) by a particular agency. They don't place restrictions on land use, but alert potential applicants to the agency's concern. Industry also uses consultative notations (identified as a CNC) to show an interest in the land.
About 3.7 million of the 10 million acres of public land in the White Area are identified through protective notations for soil and water conservation. Another 250,000 acres are under reservation as natural and protected areas. These lands are overlapped by other designations, including wildlife habitat (1.5 million acres), timber production (650,000 acres), and other uses such as recreation and historic sites (100,000 acres). Agricultural uses (e.g., grazing) are integrated with conservation objectives on much of the land under protective notations.
A large part of the public land under protective notation for conservation reasons is in the agricultural fringes. Lands in these areas are still being assessed in response to requests for change in land use. Some become subject to protective notations depending on their characteristics and government commitments to various natural resource management programs.
For updated information
Contact any of the offices below:
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development
Land Dispositions Branch
South Tower, Petroleum Plaza
9915 108 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2G8
Telephone: (780) 427 3464
Rangeland Management Branch
South Tower, Petroleum Plaza
9920 - 108 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2M4
Telephone: (780) 427 3595
Forest Management Branch
9920 108 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2M4
Telephone: (780) 422 4590
OR call the Lands Division office in your area.
