Clearwater River
Unique Historical & Wilderness Values
Mighty deciduous stand Kathleen Hunter
By Gray Jones
The Clearwater River is a unique and historic fur trade river that flows from Clearwater River Provincial Park in Saskatchewan through the dramatic Whitemud Falls into the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. This area is under immediate threat by Al-Pac. With the massive oil developments surrounding Fort McMurray, the Clearwater River/Whitemud Falls area is an increasingly important wilderness retreat, recreational and camping area for the residents of Fort McMurray.
Destinations along the Clearwater River are major attractions for residents and out of province tourists. River rafting, kayaking and canoeing are much more appealing when the tours do not go through clear-cuts. You need intact tracts of wilderness to shelter the owls and other species that bird watchers and nature photographers require.
Great Horned Owl-Old growth dependant species Bernard Jean
Many of the residents of Fort McMurray and the surrounding country can benefit from eco-tourism, a fast growing industry that pumped 2.7 billion dollars into the Canadian economy in 1991. Eco tourist industries are primarily made up of families and small companies. They are truly sustainable enterprises.
The demographics of the industrial world are changing, the population is getting older. Consequently, the fastest growing sport in the world is birdwatching!
People from countries like Japan and Germany are willing to pay thousands of dollars to experience wilderness and to watch and photograph boreal orchids, warblers and large, spectacular animals like grizzly bears and woodland caribou. The proposal for Whitemud Falls Provincial Park combined with Heritage River States for the Clearwater River would protect wilderness and the eco-tourist potential for a sustainable tomorrow.
The Western Canada Wilderness Committee fully supports the creation of Whitemud Falls Provincial Park and making the Clearwater River Alberta's first Heritage River.
Gray Jones, Executive Director, Western Canada Wilderness Committee, Boreal Forest Campaign - Alberta
