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THE ATHABASCA REGION
The "Land of Little Sticks"
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- Photo by Branimir Gjetvaj |
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The Athabasca Region of Saskatchewan is the farthest part of our province in most people's minds, both in terms of distance from where we live, and in terms of our knowledge of the land and issues in conservation. Lying north of Wollaston and Cree Lakes, and including most of the area of Saskatchewan that is drained into the Athabasca/ MacKenzie Rivers to the Arctic Ocean, the Athabasca Region is the most inaccessible, and in most ways the least disturbed area of Saskatchewan. It encompasses the Taiga Shield Ecozone and significant parts of the Boreal Shield Ecozone. Covering almost one quarter of the area of Saskatchewan, only the southern fringe is road accessible, and none of the 5 communities have all weather road access.
The communities of the Athabasca region are largely Dené First Nations (the Athabasca Denesuline), including Hatchet Lake (Wollaston), Black Lake, and Fond du Lac. Other communities like Uranium City and Stony Rapids have developed as service and industrial extraction access points.
The Ecological Setting
The southern half of the Athabasca region lies within the Athabasca Plains ecological region, which is characterized by low relief, sandy soils, and a relative lack of lakes compared to other parts of our boreal forest. This large plain drains north into Lake Athabasca, and is often characterized by the Athabasca Sand Dunes, which form a small part of its northern boundary. On the north shore of Lake Athabasca the landscape changes abruptly as the rocky precambrian shield juts from the ground with the most rugged landscape in Saskatchewan, rocky bluffs and hills, with myriad interspersed lakes and rivers.
In the far north east lies Arctic Butte, Saskatchewan's little piece of the Arctic. This high mesa overlooking Misaw Lake, just south of the North West Territories boundary, is one of the only areas in Saskatchewan where we find true tundra plants and permafrost soils. This leads to local names for this area that translate as the "land of little sticks", spindly black spruce in the taiga transition to the arctic barrens.
The Athabasca region even boasts Arctic fauna, and is home in winter to many of the quarter million animals of the Beverly and Quamijiriaq Barren Ground Caribou herds, which seek the shelter and food sources of the boreal forest in their annual winter migration. The area is also the only area in Saskatchewan which may still be home to Grizzly Bears, likely wandering barren ground bears. Local people tell stories of grizzly sightings, and a verified kill has been recorded on Selwyn Lake, which crosses the boundary from Saskatchewan to the NWT. Even more unusual was the sighting and filming of a Polar Bear in Wollaston Lake in 1999. It is likely this bear wandered too far up the Seal River in Manitoba in search of supper!
Wilderness Protection and Conservation Issues
A major threat to ecological integrity and wilderness values in the Athabasca Region is mining and mineral exploration. These activities have already created the need for road access, hydro-electric developments and powerline corridors, mine and mill sites with associated waste rock dumps and tailings ponds with their potentially harmful runoff. There are four active uranium mines in northern Saskatchewan, three of them in the Athabasca Region, and all of them extensive open pit operations.
A minor concern at this time in the region is additional hydro power development, given that the area contains two of the highest waterfalls in the province. Hydro development this far north is likely to be associated with mine and mill requirements, as there are no other major industries and communities are small.
One major protected area already exists in the Athabasca Region, the Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Wilderness Park created in the early 1990's. Three other sites have 'interim protection'. Tazin Lake in the northwest, Chappuis/ Fontaine Lakes in the centre and Misaw Lake in the north east, all lie along the NWT border and are among the largest protected areas in the province. They were designated in May 2001, but unfortunately, mineral exploration and development has not been banned yet. This is an important step required to ensure these sites maintain their wilderness values for the future.
LEARN MORE:
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| CPAWS Work in the Forest |
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| An overview of CPAWS Saskatchewan's conservation work in the forest. |
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| The Athabasca Land Use Plan |
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| Learn about the largest regional planning initiative ever undertaken in Saskatchewan. |
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| The Athabasca Sand Dunes |
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| Discover Saskatchewan's largest "desert". |
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| Tazin Lake and Selwyn Lake Upland Ecoregions |
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| Learn about Saskatchewan's northern-most ecoregions. |
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| Special Places |
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| Read stories about special places in Saskatchewan including the Athabasca Region. |
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