Cooks Ferry Indian Band: Land Capability Assessment

Cooks Ferry Indian Band at Spences Bridge, like many rural communities, is experiencing major challenges in maintaining a viable socio-economic future due to urbanization and population dynamics. Dependence on a limited range of economic bases such as agriculture, mining, forestry, fishing and recreation ties opportunities for employment to the success of these industries. The migration of skilled people and notably younger generations, to urban centers has resulted in a decline of human resources. There has been little attention given to developing a community-based resources inventory to guide communities as they seek to incorporate emergent and innovative opportunities. The utilization of a computer-based land capability classification framework is a first step in providing an ecological base for resources planning and development.