Land Use

FMA Land Withdrawals

In Alberta, companies seeking to secure land dispositions (i.e., roads, wellsites, powerlines, pipelines, etc.) on areas covered by a Forest Management Agreement (FMA) are required to secure consent from and pay compensation to the FMA holder. The FMA holder grants consent based on the proposed disposition’s impact on the FMA holder’s operations and interests, while the guidelines for assessing compensation are established through the Alberta Joint Energy/Utility and Forest Management Committee (JMC). Forcorp’s team uses the eLands Land Withdrawals and Accounting modules to provide the following services:

• Receive and assess FMA land withdrawal request components for completeness and sufficiency.
• Prepare and store master land withdrawal agreements (MLWA), if required.
• Consent to land withdrawal requests according the FMA holder’s criteria and deliver consent to the disposition applicant.
• Prepare and deliver a compensation invoice to the disposition holder.
• Maintain an FMA area land use layer (spatial and attribute updates).
• Track compensation invoice payment status and deliver account statements to the disposition holder.

Timber Quota License Land Withdrawals

In Alberta, companies seeking to secure land dispositions (i.e., roads, wellsites, powerlines, pipelines, etc.) on areas covered by Timber Quota Licences (TQL) are required to secure consent from the TQL holder, who grants consent based on the proposed disposition’s impact on the TQL holder’s operations and interests. Forcorp’s services include:

• Assess TQL land withdrawal request components for completeness and sufficiency.
• Consent to land withdrawal requests according the TQL holder’s criteria and deliver consent to disposition applicant.

Road Use

In Alberta, organizations that hold road dispositions on public lands are generally required to allow others to use their roads, subject to a set of conditions defined in a road use agreement. Depending on the quality/class, amount of required maintenance, and the intended use of the other party, the road holder may charge the user fees to use the road. Forcorp’s team uses the eLands Road Use and Accounting modules to provide the following services:

• Assess road use request components for completeness and sufficiency.
• Prepare and store master road use agreements (MRUA), if required.
• Consent to road use requests according to the road holder’s criteria and deliver consent to the road user.
• Receive (or follow up on) road usage by the road user.
• Prepare and deliver a road use compensation invoice to the road user.
• Track compensation invoice payment status and deliver account statements to the road user.
• Disseminate notifications of road use bans and restrictions or significant events on roads (e.g., a rig move).
• Assess and process permits for use of roads during road ban periods.

Miscellaneous Land Use Requests

To accommodate the various activities occurring on a given landbase, users will often need to operate on, near, or over/under a disposition and the user will require the consent of the disposition holder before proceeding with their activity. Common examples include consent to: construct a pipeline under a road; construct an approach onto a road; undertake work within a road right of way; and/or position a wellsite, road, or pipeline within proximity to a registered research plot. Forcorp’s services include:

• Assess request components for completeness and sufficiency.
• Consent to requests according to the impacted disposition holder’s criteria and deliver consent to the user.

3rd Party Agreements

When operating on, near, or over/under another company’s (the grantor) disposition or asset, companies (the grantee) are required to secure permission to do so. The grantor’s permission generally comes in the form of an agreement outlining the conditions and the period of time that the agreement is in effect. Forcorp has extensive experience in securing the following agreement types:

• Road Use
• Crossings
• Encroachments
• Ground Disturbance/Proximity
• Herbicide Mix Sites

Our land use team prepares and delivers the consent requests to the grantor, then receives, reviews, and executes the agreements. Much of this process is completed within the eLands 3rd Party Agreements module, where the agreements are stored along with their spatial and attribute information, which is all available to the Forcorp’s 3rd party agreement clients.