Saddle Hills County is a

municipal district A municipal district is an administrative entity comprising a clearly-defined territory and its population. It can refer to a city, a town, a village, a small grouping of them, or a rural area. Brazil In Brazil, municipal districts are, in genera ...

situated in the central portion of the

Peace Country The Peace River Country (or Peace Country; french: Région de la Rivière-de-la-paix) 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, ...

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. Located approximately northwest 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 ...

and north of

Grande Prairie Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), a ...

, its municipal office is located approximately west of the Town of Spirit River at the intersection of Highway 49 and Highway 725.

Geography

Communities and localities

The following urban municipalities are surrounded by Saddle Hills County. ;

Cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

*none ;

Towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

*none ;

Villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

*none ; Summer villages *none The following

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

are located within Saddle Hills County. ;

Hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

The following localities are located within Saddle Hills County. ;Localities * Bay Tree * Blueberry Mountain *

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

Braeburn The Braeburn is a cultivar of apple that is firm to the touch with a red/orange vertical streaky appearance on a yellow/green background. Its color intensity varies with different growing conditions. It was discovered as a chance seedling in ...

*Cotillion *Dunvegan Settlement *Fourth Creek * Gordondale *Happy Valley *Ksituan * Moonshine Lake *Northmark *Poplar Ridge *Savanna * Silver Valley *Whitburn

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Saddle Hills County had a population of 2,338 living in 880 of its 1,115 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,225. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saddle Hills County had a population of 2,225 living in 838 of its 978 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 2,288. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

Saddle Hills County is situated in the Central Peace Region of northwestern Alberta along the southern banks of the Peace River. The county has a diverse agricultural community and deposits of natural gas and oil. The oil and gas industry continues to play an important role in the region and helps to create a progressive and growing economic base. Saddle Hills County is also home to a diverse agricultural community which produces crops which include: pulses, cereals, canola, legumes as well as bison, elk, goats and sheep. The most common livestock is cattle with an estimated of 26,429 head. Rail service is available nearby in the Village of Rycroft, the Hamlet of Woking and the City of Dawson Creek. Two major road corridors (Highway 49 and Highway 2) run through the County offering access to the Northwest Territories, British Columbia as well as Central and Southern Alberta. Three areas of the County have been targeted for economic growth and have area structure plans that are designed to give landowners, developers and prospective residents a sense of where the County its future potential. In November 2019, Saddle Hills County Council declared a municipal agricultural disaster following a wet fall and early snow that resulted in many crops remaining unharvested. As late October 2019, only 59% of crops had been harvested in the Peace Region.

Government

County Council is responsible for establishing municipal service levels, approving the annual budget and local taxation levels. Council has seven members and is headed by a reeve. The reeve, currently Alvin Hubert, is the chief elected officer and is elected from within council. It is the reeve's responsibility to chair all council meetings and speak on behalf of council and the community. Council provides direction to its administration through its chief administrative officer (CAO). The CAO is responsible for the overall administration of the county and for advising and making recommendations to county council on matters concerning the municipality.

Gallery

File:Fall Colours in Saddle Hills County.jpg, alt=Autumn, The beautiful Saddle Hills in autumn File:Fishing at Moonshine Lake.jpg, alt=Fishing at Moonshine Lake, Moonshine Lake offers year-round fishing File:Beautiful Peace River.jpg, alt=Peace River, Canada's Mighty Peace River runs through Saddle Hills County File:Beautiful autumn in Saddle Hills County.jpg, alt=Fall colours in Saddle Hills County, Autumn makes the hills and valley of Saddle Hills County stand out File:Moonshine Lake in summer.jpg, alt=Moonshine Lake, Moonshine Lake is one of the jewels of Saddle Hills County File:Rim Rocks Bay Tree.jpg, alt=Rim Rocks, The Rim Rocks are a unique rock formation near Bay Tree is Saddle Hills County

References

External links

* {{Alberta, RM=yes Municipal districts in Alberta