The Peace River
I composed this image during an extended road trip through Peace River Country, in northern Alberta, Canada. I found it to be a vast area, marked by stunning wilderness expanses, but also by forestry, farming and ranching operations and small towns that appear totally dependent upon Canada's energy industry.
The Peace River Country (or Peace Country is an aspen parkland region centring on the Peace River in Canada. It extends from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia. Major communities in the Alberta portion of the Peace Country include Grande Prairie, Peace River, High Level and Fairview. It has no fixed boundaries but covers some 260,000 to 390,000 km2.
The first European to explore the area was Sir Alexander MacKenzie, who travelled down the Peace in 1789 and eventually reached the Mackenzie River and the Arctic Ocean. In 1793 he used the same route to reach the Pacific Ocean.[ Subsequently, the region saw a surge in the fur trade, with forts built along the river from Fort Vermilion to Hudson's Hope.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the farming potential of the area was advertised by the federal government, but settlement was scarce because of difficult travel conditions through the muskeg. With the arrival of the railway in 1916, and following the opening of land for homesteaders in 1910, farming and ranching took off in the fertile Peace Country.
Forestry plays a large role in the Peace Country economy. Pulp mills were built in Chetwynd, Peace River and Grande Prairie beginning in the 1970s.
The economy received another boost when oil and gas were found in the region. In 1952, gas was struck in the Fort St. John No. 1 well, and the first refinery was built in 1957 at Taylor. The massive Elmworth natural gas field in northwestern Alberta was discovered in the mid-70s along with other major gas fields in British Columbia and Alberta. Both Fort St. John and Grande Prairie experienced rapid economic and population growth as a result.
The Peace River
I composed this image during an extended road trip through Peace River Country, in northern Alberta, Canada. I found it to be a vast area, marked by stunning wilderness expanses, but also by forestry, farming and ranching operations and small towns that appear totally dependent upon Canada's energy industry.
The Peace River Country (or Peace Country is an aspen parkland region centring on the Peace River in Canada. It extends from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia. Major communities in the Alberta portion of the Peace Country include Grande Prairie, Peace River, High Level and Fairview. It has no fixed boundaries but covers some 260,000 to 390,000 km2.
The first European to explore the area was Sir Alexander MacKenzie, who travelled down the Peace in 1789 and eventually reached the Mackenzie River and the Arctic Ocean. In 1793 he used the same route to reach the Pacific Ocean.[ Subsequently, the region saw a surge in the fur trade, with forts built along the river from Fort Vermilion to Hudson's Hope.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the farming potential of the area was advertised by the federal government, but settlement was scarce because of difficult travel conditions through the muskeg. With the arrival of the railway in 1916, and following the opening of land for homesteaders in 1910, farming and ranching took off in the fertile Peace Country.
Forestry plays a large role in the Peace Country economy. Pulp mills were built in Chetwynd, Peace River and Grande Prairie beginning in the 1970s.
The economy received another boost when oil and gas were found in the region. In 1952, gas was struck in the Fort St. John No. 1 well, and the first refinery was built in 1957 at Taylor. The massive Elmworth natural gas field in northwestern Alberta was discovered in the mid-70s along with other major gas fields in British Columbia and Alberta. Both Fort St. John and Grande Prairie experienced rapid economic and population growth as a result.