Beaver Hills (Alberta)
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The Beaver Hills ( cr, ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒋᐩ, translit=amiskwaciy, lit=beaver hills), also known as the Beaver Hills Moraine and the Cooking Lake Moraine, are a rolling upland region in
Central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordered ...
, just to the east of
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, the provincial capital. It consists of of "knob and kettle" terrain, containing many
glacial moraines A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice she ...
and depressions filled with small lakes. The landform lies partly within five different counties, Strathcona, Leduc, Beaver,
Lamont Lamont or LaMont may refer to: People *Lamont (name), people with the surname or given name ''Lamont'' or ''LaMont'' * Clan Lamont, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Lamont, Alberta, a town in Canada * Lamont County, a municipal district in Albert ...
and Camrose. The area is relatively undeveloped compared to the surrounding region, and is protected in part by Elk Island National Park, the Cooking Lake–Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area, the Ministik Bird Sanctuary,
Miquelon Lake Provincial Park Miquelon Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in Alberta, Canada, about 65 kilometres southeast of the city of Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatch ...
and a number of smaller provincial natural areas. Since 2016 Beaver Hills has been a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
-designated biosphere reserve.


Natural history

The "hills" are very low and not very prominent, as the region is actually just a slight rise above the surrounding region which also happens to be rough and rolling due to a different history during the end of the last ice age. Being at a slightly higher elevation, the bedrock in what would become the hills was only briefly covered by glacial Lake Edmonton, which deposited a thick layer of silt on the rest of the region (the basis of the modern agricultural soils now found in the areas around the hills), but left mostly gravel and boulder-sized debris on the hills, along with much water in the depressions left behind by ice and stone during the preceding glacial era. The vegetation is typically of part of the dry mixedwood
boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...
natural subregion, a transitional zone on the south edge of the boreal forest, but is surrounded by
aspen parkland Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections, namely the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area stretchi ...
. This island of boreal forest in the south means that both boreal animal species (
moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...
,
black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
,
Canada lynx The Canada lynx (''Lynx canadensis''), or Canadian lynx, is a medium-sized North American lynx that ranges across Alaska, Canada, and northern areas of the contiguous United States. It is characterized by its long, dense fur, triangular ears ...
) and grassland animal species (
sharp-tailed grouse The sharp-tailed grouse (''Tympanuchus phasianellus''), also known as the sharptail or fire grouse, is a medium-sized prairie grouse. One of three species in the genus '' Tympanuchus'', the sharp-tailed grouse is found throughout Alaska, much of ...
,
mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...
) live in the region. Nearby landscapes include
Beaverhill Lake Beaverhill Lake ( cr, script=Latn, amisk-wa-chi-sakhahigan) is a large lake in central Alberta, Canada. It is a site of regional importance in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. It is managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service divis ...
just to the east, and the
North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...
to the north.


Human history


Indigenous peoples and fur trade history

As a well wooded and watered area near to more open grasslands, the Beaver Hills were an important camping place for nomadic peoples making a seasonal migration between the plains and the hills. It was a place that Indigenous people "could replenish and recoup after spending extended periods on the plains, a place where they could hunt, fish, and gather other needed resources". Because the hills were not ploughed under, unlike the rest of region, much archaeological evidence remains here, including 227 Native sites recorded by Parks Canada in Elk Island Park alone. The Sarcee are the first ethnic group known to have inhabited the region in the period after European contact (and thus the beginning of a written historical record). Sometime before 1800 Cree people migrating from the east displaced the Sacree from the hills onto the plains. The Cree call the region , which literally means "beaver hills" and is the origin of the region's later names in French, and then English. The Cree pursued an economy based around trapping and trading with Euro-Canadian fur companies as well as the more traditional forms of hunting gathering, and fishing. The Cree also adopted buffalo hunting techniques from plains peoples to the south, including the use of buffalo pounds. The beaver and other game species in the area eventually became trapped out, and they largely abandoned the area as a permanent home, though continued to travel through the area. Two major Indigenous and fur trade trails border the hills, the Victoria Trail to the north and the Battle River Trail to the south. The Beaver Hills are mentioned in Euro-Canadian records as early as
Peter Fidler Peter Fidler (16 August 1769 – 17 December 1822) was a British surveyor, map-maker, fur trader and explorer who had a long career in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in what later became Canada. He was born in Bolsover, Derbyshir ...
's sketches of 1793. David Thompson's map of 1814 mentions the hills prominently as place of refuge for both the Sarcee and Cree. They are also reported on by the Palliser Expedition of the 1850s and by Joseph B. Tyrell of the
Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the e ...
in the 1880s.


Initial reserve development

This is one of oldest protected areas in Canada, having originally been a forest reserve set aside by the federal Department of the Interior in 1892, during the homesteading era. It was formalized as the Cooking Lake Forest Reserve in 1899, the first such reserve in Canada. A part of the reserve was given further protection in 1906 as Elk Park, later to become Elk Island National Park. In 1930,
Crown lands Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
in Alberta passed from the federal government to the provincial government, Elk Park became formalized as a national park while the rest of the Cooking Lake Forest Reserve became a provincial responsibility.


Later development

In 2002 the Beaver Hills Initiative was created to coordinate land-use planning in the municipalities in the area surrounding the protected parks. This resulted in a scheme of tradable development credits. In 2006 the area became recognized as a dark sky preserve by the
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, ...
. In 2016 it was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.


See also

* List of glacial moraines *
Terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...


References


Further reading

* {{Canadian Prairies Hills of Alberta Dark-sky preserves in Canada Moraines of Canada Taiga and boreal forests Great Plains Edmonton Metropolitan Region Biosphere reserves of Canada Forests of Alberta Wetlands of Canada