Alberta

D

Soils

The best soils for farming occur in southern and central Alberta. In the prairie region of the south, the fertile soils range from light brown to dark brown. Central Alberta contains rich black soils. In the Peace River area of the northwest are less fertile dark gray and gray soils. The northern forest zone has gray soils of low fertility.

E

Plant Life

Forests cover 57 percent of Alberta. In the far north and west are coniferous forests containing white spruce, black spruce, balsam fir, tamarack, jack pine, and white birch. South and east of the coniferous forests is a mixed-wood region, where aspen and poplar predominate but spruce and jack pine are also found. South of the mixed-wood region is the parkland belt, an area of tall grass with scattered groves of trees, mainly aspen and poplar. The grasses include bearded and slender wheatgrass and fringed bromegrass. Still farther south is a mixed-grass area, containing both tall grass and short grass, and to the southeast is a short-grass area. In both regions are found blue grama grass, spear grass, wheatgrass, and sedge. In the foothills of the Rocky Mountains there are trees, especially spruce, pine, fir, and larch.

F

Animal Life

Early in the 19th century, trappers ranged across the Canadian west in search of furs. The beaver, which thrives in the swamp and muskeg country of northern Alberta, was the most sought-after fur-bearing animal. The fox, muskrat, otter, squirrel, marten, fisher, and mink were also trapped, and their skins were shipped east by canoe to Hudson Bay and Montréal. Most of these animals, still relatively plentiful in northern Alberta, are now protected by law although the fur of the marten, mink, beaver, and coyote is still important. Deer, bear, wolf, elk, moose, and caribou are found on the mountain slopes and in the northern forests. Bighorn sheep live among the craggy peaks of the Rockies. Animals found on the plains include the deer, antelope, gopher, red fox, and jackrabbit. The bison, commonly called the buffalo, once roamed the plains in vast herds and was the principal source of food and clothing for the indigenous peoples of the plains. Wood Buffalo National Park, on the Alberta-Northwest Territories boundary, was established in 1922 as a wildlife refuge for bison and other animals, including the rare whooping crane.

Fish are plentiful in Alberta’s lakes and streams, which are stocked regularly from fish hatcheries to provide a good supply both for commercial and sport fishing. The most common species in the northern lakes are whitefish, pike, pickerel, and sturgeon. Various species of trout are found in the mountain and foothill streams. Commercial fishing, particularly for whitefish, is carried on in Lake Athabasca, Lac La Biche, Lesser Slave Lake, and Pigeon Lake. These lakes are also popular for sport fishing.

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The chief game birds are grouse, pheasant, ducks, and geese. Large numbers of ducks breed on the lakes of central and northern Alberta, and they cross the province during their spring and fall migrations.

G

Environmental Issues

Alberta has several significant environmental problems, including air and water pollution from industrial facilities—especially oil and natural gas wells, refineries, and power plants. The production and refining of oil and natural gas and electricity production from coal- and natural gas-fired power plants lead to the emission of sulfur compounds, the primary cause of acid rain in the province. Acid rain increases the acidity of soil and water and can damage aquatic life and vegetation. Alberta’s ministry of the environment and the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) share responsibility for establishing sulfur emission standards to ensure that provincial air-quality guidelines are met.

In 1993 the government of Alberta implemented the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), a single regulatory framework for the protection of Alberta’s air, land, and water. The EPEA, which incorporated many of the province’s previous environmental acts, established uniform processes for assessing the potential environmental impacts of new developments. A central goal of the EPEA is to ensure that potential environmental problems are identified while streamlining the approval process for proposed projects.

III

Economic Activities

The exploitation of primary resources has always been at the heart of Alberta’s economy. In the late 18th century trappers came to Alberta in search of animal pelts, and for the next century the fur trade was the leading economic activity in the territory. The development of agriculture and industry began in the 1880s with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and until 1930 there was a rapid expansion of wheat farming, cattle ranching, and the food-processing industry. In the 1930s, however, the worldwide depression and devastating droughts resulted in severe economic hardship for Alberta. Agriculture remained the leading economic activity in Alberta until a large oil field was discovered near Leduc in 1947; soon even larger oil fields were found elsewhere. The discovery of oil was a turning point for Alberta. It led to the development of mining, refining, and petrochemical industries that helped diversify the economy.

Alberta’s economy expanded rapidly in the 1970s with the sharp rise in world prices for oil. Alberta’s service sector also grew rapidly, notably finance and business services, which expanded along with the burgeoning petroleum industry. Lower oil prices in the 1980s brought an economic downturn and curtailed a decade-long construction and financial boom in the province. In the late 1980s the provincial government began to aggressively promote forestry industries, especially the manufacture of pulp and paper, as a way to further diversify the economy.

Today, Alberta is one of the major financial centers of western Canada, and the service sector accounts for the largest share of Alberta’s gross domestic product (GDP, a measure of the value of all goods and services produced annually). However, mining, which includes the exploitation of oil and natural gas reserves, is the province’s single most important industry. Alberta’s economic fortunes therefore remain strongly linked to global commodity price fluctuations that are beyond its control. During the 1990s and early 2000s, robust growth in the energy sector and the expansion of such industries as forest products, petrochemicals, food processing, and tourism and business services, gave Alberta the fastest-growing economy and one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada. In 2005 Alberta’s GDP was C$218.4 billion.

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