The urban public and forest land-use planning: Tapping into the majority

Canadians desire involvement in forest management at normative or early planning phases. One way of accomplishing this is through meaningful public involvement in land-use planning efforts. The Provinces of Ontario and Manitoba have, respectively, completed or are completing the development of land use plans for large areas of forested landscapes. Both governments identified public participation as being an integral part of these processes. This paper examines how well these processes promoted participation by the general public, the vast majority of which resides in urban areas located outside the respective planning regions. It is determined that in both cases this was poorly done. Reasons are given for why and how increased participation by the urban public should be pursued.