This dataset provides the 31 Environmental Studies Research Fund Prescribed Regions and associated historical levies. Context: The Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF) is a research program, which sponsors environmental and social studies. It is designed to assist in the decision-making process related to oil and gas exploration and development on Canada's frontier lands. The funding for the ESRF is provided through levies on frontier lands paid by interest holders such as the oil and gas companies. The ESRF is directed by a joint government/industry/public Management Board and is administered by a secretariat which resides in the Office of Energy Research and Development, Natural Resources Canada. The ESRF receives its legislative mandate through the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The ESRF regions are described in the Environmental Studies Research Fund Regions Regulations. As well, the Canada-Newfoundland Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act provide legislative direction in the Southern Regions. Funding for ESRF is collected annually through levies paid by lease-holding oil and gas companies active in a specific ESRF region. In accordance with the legislation, levies are recommended by the Management Board to the Ministers of NRCan and CIRNA for approval. The levies are calculated by multiplying the levy rate of a region by the number of hectares of land under lease. The ESRF has sponsored studies on oil and gas exploration and development on frontier lands, including such topics as environmental effects on fish, bird and animal habits and habitats, iceberg detection and flow patterns, oil spill prevention and countermeasures, dispersant effectiveness in cold waters and ice, frontier social and economic issues, improving accuracy of ocean and weather forecasting, and verification of codes and standards.

This collection contains two related records: - Environmental Studies Research Fund Prescribed Regions - Environmental Studies Research Fund levies no longer applied Context: The Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF) is a research program, which sponsors environmental and social studies. It is designed to assist in the decision-making process related to oil and gas exploration and development on Canada's frontier lands. The funding for the ESRF is provided through levies on frontier lands paid by interest holders such as the oil and gas companies. The ESRF is directed by a joint government/industry/public Management Board and is administered by a secretariat which resides in the Office of Energy Research and Development, Natural Resources Canada. The ESRF receives its legislative mandate through the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The ESRF regions are described in the Environmental Studies Research Fund Regions Regulations. As well, the Canada-Newfoundland Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act provide legislative direction in the Southern Regions. Funding for ESRF is collected annually through levies paid by lease-holding oil and gas companies active in a specific ESRF region. In accordance with the legislation, levies are recommended by the Management Board to the Ministers of NRCan and CIRNA for approval. The levies are calculated by multiplying the levy rate of a region by the number of hectares of land under lease. The ESRF has sponsored studies on oil and gas exploration and development on frontier lands, including such topics as environmental effects on fish, bird and animal habits and habitats, iceberg detection and flow patterns, oil spill prevention and countermeasures, dispersant effectiveness in cold waters and ice, frontier social and economic issues, improving accuracy of ocean and weather forecasting, and verification of codes and standards.

This dataset provides the geospatial boundary of the area where levies are no longer applied to ESRF prescribed regions. Context: The Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF) is a research program, which sponsors environmental and social studies. It is designed to assist in the decision-making process related to oil and gas exploration and development on Canada's frontier lands. The funding for the ESRF is provided through levies on frontier lands paid by interest holders such as the oil and gas companies. The ESRF is directed by a joint government/industry/public Management Board and is administered by a secretariat which resides in the Office of Energy Research and Development, Natural Resources Canada. The ESRF receives its legislative mandate through the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The ESRF regions are described in the Environmental Studies Research Fund Regions Regulations. As well, the Canada-Newfoundland Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act provide legislative direction in the Southern Regions. Funding for ESRF is collected annually through levies paid by lease-holding oil and gas companies active in a specific ESRF region. In accordance with the legislation, levies are recommended by the Management Board to the Ministers of NRCan and CIRNA for approval. The levies are calculated by multiplying the levy rate of a region by the number of hectares of land under lease. The ESRF has sponsored studies on oil and gas exploration and development on frontier lands, including such topics as environmental effects on fish, bird and animal habits and habitats, iceberg detection and flow patterns, oil spill prevention and countermeasures, dispersant effectiveness in cold waters and ice, frontier social and economic issues, improving accuracy of ocean and weather forecasting, and verification of codes and standards.

This data depicts site suitability for the establishment of area-based Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWC) of willow on lands eligible (i.e. non-forested) for afforestation across Canada. Determining the feasibility of a large-scale afforestation program is one approach being investigated by the Government of Canada to increase Canada's potential to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and/or produce bioproducts and bioenergy. Large-scale afforestation, however, requires knowledge of where it is suitable to establish and grow trees. Spatial models based on Boolean logic and/or statistical models within a geographic information system may be used for this purpose, but empirical environmental data are often lacking, and the association of these data to land suitability is most often a subjective process. As a solution to this problem, a fuzzy-logic modeling approach to assess site suitability for afforestation of hybrid poplar (Populus spp.) and willow (Salix spp.) in Canada was developed. Expert knowledge regarding the selection and magnitudes of environmental variables were integrated into fuzzy rule sets from which estimates of site suitability were generated and spatially presented. The environmental variables selected included growing season precipitation, climate moisture index, growing degree days, the Canada Land Inventory capability for agriculture and elevation. Site suitability is generally defined as the fitness of a given type of land for a particular use. For this assessment, site suitability was defined as the fitness of edaphic, climatic and topographic conditions to establish and grow SRWC species at rates 8 times those of native species. Suitability index values range from 1-100, with higher values corresponding to higher suitability. Approximately 246,000 km2, or 38% of the eligible land base within Canada was found to be suitable for afforestation using Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWC) of hybrid poplar and/or willow.