The Manitoba government has introduced legislation that would improve how agricultural Crown lands (ACL) and community pastures are managed.

“We are pleased to be introducing amendments to The Crown Lands Act that will modernize the process of crown land leases,” said Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler. “We are also making changes that will better enable government to maintain and protect community pastures. These lands not only provide opportunities for cattle farmers, but also provide numerous environmental benefits including carbon sequestration, protecting threatened species and maintaining biodiversity.”

The Crown Lands Amendment Act would allow agricultural Crown lands to have their rent determined by a public auction and allow government designate ACL as community pastures.

Currently, fees or rent for leases and permits for agricultural Crown lands may be determined by public tender.

This proposed bill would enable regulations that provide for public auctions to also be used. The new subsection to the bill would allow rent to be calculated in one of four ways:
1. by setting out or prescribing the amount of method/formula to determine rent in regulation,
2. by having a public tender,
3. by having a public auction, or
4. a combination of ways one to three.

The bill would also enable government to designate certain lands as community pastures and to regulate their use.

The purpose of community pastures is to support haying and grazing on rangelands in a manner that conserves the lands’ ecological integrity and biodiversity.