Work and Progress |
Destination: Athabasca
Where the golden expanse of prairie along Highway 2 north of Edmonton trails into a lush, green valley, you’ll find the town of Athabasca. Its watery namesake, the Athabasca River, travels north 1,200 kilometres from the Columbia Icefield towards the Arctic Ocean. For more than 200 years, this waterway formed an important route for the fur trade and Klondike Gold Rush. The town’s river landing was once the scene of shipbuilding. Sternwheelers and scows constructed right on the water’s edge took prospectors north through Fort McMurray to Fort Resolution. The gold diggers continued on the Mackenzie River towards their journey’s end at the Bell and Porcupine Rivers in a voyage that could take up to two months.
By Natasha Mekhail
Today the waterway through town is quiet. The only vessels negotiating its current are speedboats and recreational canoes. But the town retains its outpost character. Unlike many rural towns with long-established populations, Athabasca residents are relative newcomers, there for work in the pulp mill or the halls of academia. Its two major employers, Alberta Pacific (Al-Pac) Forest Industries and Athabasca University, are less than 25 years old.
Athabasca University, despite having 37,000 enrolled students and 1,200 staff, sees few of them. Canada’s leading distance learning centre relocated here from Edmonton in 1985. The university grants degrees to students from around the world. Yet its bricks and mortar home employs a mere 400.
Al-Pac’s 500 employees work in the plant northeast of the town. The facility started production in 1993. It has the distinction of being North America’s largest single-line kraft pulp mill. Each year it produces 650,000 air-dried metric tonnes of bleached hardwood and softwood pulp.
Whether for work or play, Athabasca’s natural surroundings are the community’s major draw. From the town’s lookout, you can gaze at the valley’s spectacular vistas. Three of four major North American migratory bird flyways cross over this part of Northern Alberta.
On the river, anglers enjoy world-class walleye fishing. Surrounding lakes teem with pike and perch. In summer, the beaches draw a shadow population of almost 1,000.
What brings people to Athabasca today is much the same as in those fur-trading days of old: jobs and adventure. But increasingly everyone from young couples to retirees wanting a break from city life is making a home in this inclusive community. It’s understandable. From its historical remnants to its beautiful surroundings, the sights of Athabasca stay with you long after you leave the valley.
The Bigger Picture
Population
According to the 2006 federal census, 2,575 people live in the town of Athabasca, up almost 7% from 2001. Another 7,600 reside in Athabasca County. A shadow population of up to 979 people make the area home in the summer months.
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