This series consists of records created by the Ministry of the Environment, the Department of Environment and their predecessors departments, such as the Department of Lands, Forests and Water Resources. The majority of the records were created from 1970-1977.
Records relate to department administration, organization charts, reorganization, pollution control, water resources services and the agricultural land reserve.
The records relate to all functions of the Department of Environment. This includes, but is not limited to, the creation and management of the Department of the Environment; managing protected areas; hunting; trapping and traplines; guide outfitters; fishing; Indigenous hunting and land rights; wildlife management, including wolf control; game farming; fish farms and aquaculture; water rights and management; Ministry centralization and reorganization; the establishment of the Environmental Lab; conservation and habitat management; water rights and water licences; flood prevention and mitigation; the creation and management of dams and dykes; land use; pollution, including air, chemical, solid waste and sewage; waste management, including landfills and sewage systems; coal mining; pesticides and herbicides; conservation officers, including enforcement and prosecutions; the drafting of legislation and orders-in-council; flood claims, control and prevention; and surveys and mapping.
Records include correspondence from the public and within government, briefing notes, meeting minutes, minister's speeches, Cabinet submissions, Treasury Board submissions, reports, agreements, legislation, agreements, policies, procedures, maps and photos.
The records were created by the following executive:
Ray Gillis Williston, Minister of Lands, Forests and Water Resources, 1962-1972
Robert Arthur Williams, Minister of Lands, Forests and Water Resources, 1972-1975
James Arthur Nielson, Minister of Environment, 1975-1978
Kenneth Rafe Mair, Minister, 1978-1979
Charles Stephen Rogers, Minister, 1979-1983
Ben E Marr, Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM), Water Resources, 1973-1975
Ben E Marr, Deputy Minister, 1974-1987
Allan Murray, ADM Conservation, 1978-1979
V Raudsepp, DM, Water Resources, 1970-1973
GE Simmons, ADM, Water Resources, 1975
GE Simmons, ADM, Water and Air, 1976
GE Simmons, ADM, Environmental and Engineering, 1977-1978
GE Simmons, ADM, Environmental Management, 1979-1981
WN Venables, ADM Environmental Protection, 1979
Ed H Vernon, ADM, Conservation, 1974-1978
British Columbia. Dept. of Environment