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Alberta's Boreal Forest Region
Welcome to Alberta's Boreal Forest Region. Mighty rivers drain north and east from the
Rocky Mountains into the watershed of the Arctic Ocean. Look at any map of Alberta and
you will see them: The Athabasca, Smoky, Peace, Chinchaga and Hay, tracing sinuous
patterns across the vast northern half of the province, a lightly populated and little-known
region of dark forests and muskegs. This is the Boreal Forest Region that comprises 48
percent of Alberta.
Geologically, this landscape is very similar to the better-known prairies of the south. Vast
continental glaciers covered northern Alberta and then retreated, leaving a rolling
landscape covered with glacial till, carved by huge rivers and occasionally interrupted
with low hills. But in this far north, there is more rain, less summer heat and longer
winters, so the landscape is heavily forested and covered with vast bogs and muskeg.
Most southerners think of mosquitoes, moose and muskeg when they look at a map of
Alberta north of Edmonton. In reality, there is a great diversity of vegetation and wildlife
in the boreal forests: the complex wetland of the Hay River; the lush mixed forests of
aspen, pine and spruce in the Lakeland area; the varied vegetation mosaics of the
Clearwater, Peace and Athabasca river valleys.
Northern species like the Arctic grayling, river otter and black-throated green warbler rely
on the boreal ecosystem. Endangered species such as the well-known whooping crane and
the woodland caribou also depend on the boreal forests for their well being.
The boreal forest has remained wilderness for much of this century, but today it's
undergoing rapid resource development. Recent forest management agreements have set
the stage for roads and clearcuts over the entire area, feeding new pulp mills on the major
rivers of the north. Oil and gas exploration and development have left a legacy of linear
scars throughout the northern boreal region.
Thus, the need to protect places in the boreal forest like the Caribou Mountains, the
Clearwater River valley, Buffalohead Hills, Wabasca River and Lakeland is urgent for the
benefit of all Albertans.