The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is a collection of land in the Canadian province of British Columbia in which agriculture is recognized as the priority use. Farming is encouraged and non-agricultural uses are controlled. In total, the ALR covers approximately 4.7 million hectares and includes private and public lands that may be farmed, forested or are vacant. Some ALR blocks cover thousands of hectares while others are small pockets of only a few hectares. Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages none stated in law; English is de facto Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 5th 944,735... Farming, ploughing rice paddy, in Indonesia Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other desired products by cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). ...

The ALR has been controversial since its inception. It was originally intended to protect valuable agricultural land that has among the most fertile soil in the country from being developed, and to that end it has met its objective. Critics claim, however, that its restrictions have caused land prices — especially in British Columbia's rapidly growing Lower Mainland region — to artificially inflate (the region is hemmed in by the ocean, mountains, and the US border, limiting available land supply). The claim is also made that owners of land in the ALR are not sufficiently compensated for their property, and that the ALR constitutes unreasonable interference in private property rights. Finally, critics maintain that in densely populated areas, agricultural land exists mainly as tiny several-acre plots that barely meet the minimum lot size for ALR regulations, destroying the economy of scale of large scale farming, and keeping agribusiness from establishing itself strongly in agricultural regions near larger centres. The Lower Mainland is the name that residents of British Columbia apply to the region surrounding the City of Vancouver. ...

Defenders of the policy respond that the province has little arable land, especially of such productivity as exists on the Fraser River delta around Vancouver, and that the ALR protects British Columbia's important agriculture sector. They also suggest that a large part of the Lower Mainland's development pressure comes from the lack of a unified land use and transportation plan for the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and the failure of municipalities to replace sprawl with density. Finally, they claim that the ALR is a reasonable extension of the government's right to zone land for various uses. Defenders of the ALR have been distressed in recent years at what they see as the weakening of the policy, by the designation of golf courses as "agricultural land" and the removal of ALR-protected lands for residential, commercial, and industrial development. The Fraser River is the longest river in British Columbia, Canada, rising in the Rocky Mountains near Mount Robson and flowing for 1400 km (870 mi), into the Pacific Ocean at the city of Vancouver. ... Nile River delta, as seen from Earth orbit. ... Members of Parliament Libby Davies, Ujjal Dosanjh, David Emerson, Hedy Fry, Stephen Owen Members of the Legislative Assembly Gordon Campbell, David Chudnovsky, Adrian Dix, Colin Hansen, Jenny Kwan, Lorne Mayencourt, Wally Oppal, Gregor Robertson, Shane Simpson, Carole Taylor Mayor Sam Sullivan City Manager Judy Rogers Governing Body Vancouver City Council... Motto: Building a sustainable region Area: 2,878. ... A typical zoning map; this one identifies the zones, or development districts, in the city of Ontario, California Zoning is a North American term for a system of land-use regulation. ... This article is about the sport of golf. ...

External links

• Website of the Agricultural Land Commission.
• The Agricultural Land Commission Act, the enabling legislation of the ALC and the ALR
• British Columbia Agriculture Council position on the ALR