Agenda – Mar-4-08
Time Activity
• 3:30 Announcements
– In-Class Assignments
• 3:35 DVD “Water Under Fire” (St. Lawrence)
• 4:05 Lecture: “British Columbia”
• 4:45 Break
• 5:00 DVD “Water Under Fire” (The Rockies)
• 5:30 Lecture: “British Columbia”
British Columbia
• British Columbia‟s Superlatives
– Canada‟s most varied physical environment
– Canada‟s fastest-growing economy during the early to mid-
1990s - slumped somewhat in later part of decade
– Canada‟s „gateway‟ to the Pacific Rim
– Canada‟s most „glamorized‟ Province
– Encompasses two distinct physiographic regions
– Centralist/decentralist faultline with Ottawa
In-class Assignment
1.
• a) Which resource has recently taken
over first place in the resource sector?
• b) Which two industries are now driving
British Columbia‟s economy?
• c) What coming event is expected to
boost the economy?
In-class Assignment
2.
• a) Identify two effects of “clear-cutting”
forests in British Columbia.
• b) What is the reason given by the
lumber industry for not using “selective
cutting”?
In-class Assignment
3.
Identify three “sources of conflict” for the
Fishing Industry of British Columbia.
British Columbia
• Two distinct sub-regions:
1. Heavily populated southwest corner - the
economic core
2. Hinterland - essentially the rest of the province
• Aboriginal land claims critical issue
• 13.1 % of Canadian Population
• 12% of Canada‟s GNP
Figure 7.1 British Columbia, 2001
British Columbia
• Emerging role in Canadian economic system
• Increased trade with the Pacific Rim/Asian
countries has served B.C.‟s economy well
• Heavy immigration from Hong Kong - skilled
workers, capital and Asian business
connections
• Traditional mainstays were: fish, forests and
minerals.
British Columbia
• Natural Gas has recently taken over first
place in the resource sector
• High technology and tourism now driving
forces in the economy
• Aboriginals an important minority group with
growing population and on-going land claims
• French-speaking population on the decline.
British Columbia
• Economic woes:
– 1998 slow down - appeared to be on recovery until
27% soft-wood limber duty imposed by
Washington - led to lay-offs
– 2003 forest fires - destroyed many timber stands,
homes and businesses
• Good News: 2010 Winter Olympics should
generate tourism and spin-off to boost the
economy.
• Core/periphery = 60% of population in
southwest corner or 10% of the province
Figure 7.2 Vancouver wins Winter Olympics bid
Figure 7.7 Major urban centres in British Columbia
Environmental Challenges
Several challenges:
• Mismanagement of natural resources
• Wasteful practices = loss of resources,
environmental degradation and conflicts
– E.g. clear-cutting of forests - especially on steep
slopes and along streams & rivers - results in soil
erosion, stream sedimentation and damage to the fish
habitat
– Companies claim selective cutting is too costly and
limits their ability to compete in the market place
Land Claims and the
Aboriginal/Non-Aboriginal Faultlines
• Who owns British Columbia?
• Read pages 341-342 of the text.
Physical Geography
• Landforms
• Dominated by mountains, plateaus, and valleys
• Cordillera consists of ten mountain ranges,
around 1000km wide at the southern boundary
• Formed by the folding and faulting of
sedimentary rocks
Figure 7.3 Physiography of the Cordillera
Physical Geography
• Coast Mountains
• Rugged offshore islands
• Channels and fjords
• Narrow coastal lowlands
• Jagged alpine peaks
• Queen Charlotte and Vancouver Island
Ranges
• Not as high as the coast mountains
• Larger lowlands
Physical Geography
• Rocky Mountains and other ranges
• High, sharp peaks
• Narrow U-shaped valleys
• Ongoing alpine glaciation
• Rocky Mountain Trench
• Long, narrow valley
• Interior and Stikine Plateaux
• Undulating interior basins
• Generally level horizons
• Peace River Country
• Part of the interior plains
Physical Geography
Climate
• Heavy precipitation (>375cm annually) along the western slopes of
the Queen Charlotte, Vancouver Island, and Coast ranges
• Precipitation, resulting from Pacific air masses, typically falls as rain
at the coast and snow at higher elevations
• Southern valleys of the Province record the lowest precipitation
outside of the Arctic (<25cm annually)
• In the winter, coastal BC is generally mild (mean January
temperature of 0C); interior can be similar to the prairies
• In the summer, the southwest coast is typically mild (mean July
temperature of 15C); southern valleys can be quite hot (into the
40sC)
Early Resource Utilization and Settlement
Patterns
• The sparse and irregular settlement of British Columbia
is reflective of the great variety of natural environments
(and hence economic activities) in the province, as well
as the various time periods in which settlement took
place
– With the exception of towns and cities in the southwest of the
province, most settlements were established to take advantage
of a single resource
– Coastal settlements established a „starting point‟ from which
inland settlements expanded
– Interior settlements from the east connected with the coast
– Sea-oriented settlements clustered along the southwest coast
Early Resource Utilization and Settlement
Patterns
– Interior settlements were sparse, and associated with fur trading posts and
mines
– The present pattern of settlements reflects the functional connections
between urban places in BC, and their links to the outside world
– Furs were the first resource utilized – in the interior and along the coast
– Trading posts such as Fort Langley, Victoria and Nanaimo were established
to facilitate coastal trade
– The gold rush of 1858 brought people and infrastructure to the central Fraser
River and the Cariboo mountains
– Administrative centres were established in Victoria and New Westminster
– The early patterns of settlement and economic activities established the
heartland-hinterland relationships apparent within BC today
Figure 7.7 Major urban centres in British Columbia
Figure 7.4 Railways in British Columbia
W.W. II and Post War Boom
• War production demands spurred B.C. resource
economy out of the post depression doldrums
• Military production e.g. aircraft manufacturing
• Resource based industries - forestry and mining (coal
& copper)
• Market demands remained high following the war
• Road and then rail transportation routes from
Vancouver to Prince George served to bring the
hinterland‟s resources into the growing economy
Rapid Economic Growth in the 90‟s
• Led the rest of the nation in growth between
1990-1997:
– Rich and varied resource base
– High commodity prices
• 21% of Canada‟s productive forests
• Most valuable timber stands = size, type and
density of rainforest
• China and other Pacific Rim countries -
leading in economic growth - great markets
for B.C. resources and products
Table 7.1: Employment by Industrial
Sector in British Columbia, 2002
Table 7.2: Comparison of Ontario and
British Columbia Industrial Structures
1995 to 2002
Agriculture
• Agricultural production is concentrated in the
Peace River area; the main crops being wheat
and other grains
• Otherwise BC is not a major agricultural area
• Okanagan Valley: irrigation allows for successful fruit
agriculture, including apples, cherries, peaches, pears and
grapes
• Fraser River / Southeastern Vancouver Island: mainly serves
the needs of the urban clusters in the area; products include
dairy, vegetables, poultry (cranberries and blueberries in the
Fraser Valley)
• New agricultural land is being opened up in the interior,
reflecting the growth of regional centres
Table 7.3: Manufacturing Shipments by
Industry, B.C., 2001
Forestry
• Forestry is of great significance to the BC economy
• Cutting began in the soutwest; as a result, the wood processing
industry is located there
• As the nearest supplies of wood were exhausted, cutting moved
up the coast, into a Georgia Strait „hinterland‟
• Mill numbers declined after 1950, as a result of further
concentration of processing
• Pulp and paper mills were established along the coast around
1910; water transportation was used to move the raw logs; the
main markets were in California
Forestry
• Starting in the 1950s, integration of the wood products industry saw
pulp, paper, sawmill and plywood manufacturing done in single or
closely-located plants
• Much of the coastal forest is gone
• Increased demand and improved infrastructure led to an expansion
of the forest industry into the interior
• Some small single industry communities found new life by becoming
forestry towns
• Communities dependent upon the forest industry are threatened by
the ongoing softwood lumber dispute with the United States
Figure 7.5 Forest regions in British Columbia
Table 7.6: Timber Harvest by Species,
British Columbia, 2001
Figure 7.6 Traditional US ball games
Table 7.7: Forest Product Exports from
British Columbia, 2001
Table 7.8: Lumber Production by
Province/Territory, 2002
Fisheries
• In the 19th Century, salmon canneries were established near the
mouths of rivers along the coast of BC
• The highest concentration of canneries was at the mouths of the
Fraser and Skeena rivers
• As technology changed, and wider catch-areas were possible for a
given cannery, the number of canneries required decreased (at the
beginning of the 20th Century, there were 100 canneries; by 1970,
there were 10)
• During the 1980s, fish farms were established along the coast north
of Vancouver
Fisheries
• The industry is a source of conflict:
– between BC and US states
– between the federal and provincial governments
– between commercial and sport fishers
– between fishers and farmers
– between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals
– between competing users of river resources
Table 7.4: Fishery Statistics,
British Columbia, 2001
Mining
• A variety of mineral resources are available in BC; the
result of varying geological ages/origins of the cordillera
rocks (e.g. gold, lead, zinc, coal)
• The Kootenays (S.E. BC) were home to one of the first
and most important mining areas in Canada
• Mines and mining communities were linked by rail
transportation; food was produced in local agricultural
areas, hydro was provided by damming local rivers, and
building materials were obtained in local forests
• Almost all of the minerals produced are for export; as a
result, coastal mines are quite successful
Mining
• BC‟s mining industry has close links with
markets in the US and Asia (particularly Japan)
• Modern mines tend to be open pits, far from
population centres
• The Peace River region is a producer of oil and
natural gas
• Extensive and as-yet unexploited fossil fuel
reserves are found in coastal areas of the
province
Table 7.5: Mineral Production in
British Columbia, 2001
Hydroelectricity
• The heavy precipitation, topography, and abundance
of lakes and rivers make BC ideally suited for the
production of electricity
• Only two of the major river systems are significantly
developed: the Columbia and the Peace
• Hydroelectric developments provide cheap, reliable
power for urban centres, encouraging the growth of
other industry (e.g. smelters at Trail and Kitimat)
• The export of electricity is a significant source of
revenue for the province
Tourism and Recreation
• Tourism and recreation occur most intensively in the
southwest of the province
• Road development in the 1950s and 1960s expanded
the natural „playground‟ to include the BC interior
• „Adventure‟ tourism is still a possibility in northern
parts of the province
• The tourist industry is a significant and growing
sector of the economy, for both urban and rural areas
Table 7.9: Major Urban Centres in
British Columbia, 1996-2001
Figure 7.7 Major urban centres in British Columbia
Table 7.10: Smaller Urban Centres in
British Columbia, 1996-2001
Regional Differences
• Georgia Strait
• Home to both Vancouver and Victoria
• The heartland of BC
• Industrialization is concentrated mainly in the Lower
Mainland
• Victoria serves as the main government city
• Nanaimo is the main service centre for central Vancouver
Island; its economy revolves primarily around the forest
industry
Regional Differences
• North Coast
• An underdeveloped resource-based region
• Prince Rupert is the only significant urban settlement
• Fish processing, smelting, and chemical production dominate
industrial output
• Intended as the northern gateway of the province – a role
which has not (yet) been met
• Interior Plateau
• Home to Prince George (the „capital‟ of Northern BC) and
Kamloops
• Both communities have a „crossroads‟ role in the provincial
economy, and are dependent upon the rural resource
hinterland which surrounds them
Regional Differences
• Okanagan Valley
• The most populated southern interior valley
• Home to Kelowna, Penticton, and Vernon
• A major fruit producing region
• A recreational hinterland for Vancouver
• A significant retirement destination
• An area of significant land use conflicts
Regional Differences
• The Kootenays
• Mining and forestry-oriented settlements with
local agricultural production
• Relatively poorly developed and characterized
by small settlements (e.g. Nelson)
• Lead-Zinc smelting at Trail