Fort McMurray Sand Dunes


The Northern Lights

Fort McMurray

RJ has been visiting and helping his Dad for the past 12 days. The two of them are now on their way to Fort McMurray to build an extra room in RJ's basement.

Ft. Mac has had a bad wrap for the last few years and depending on which side of the fence you sit you might not agree with my view. As an Albertan I am all for Ft. Mac and the exploration.

Fort McMurray didn't become a City until 1980, making it one of Alberta's newest cities. The city has played an significant role in the petroleum industry.

It is the oil sands with its abundance of oil that has created the stir. There is a 2.5 million a day supply of oil in the sands. This allows Canada to be second in the world for oil production. Unfortunately with this comes the bad press (some deserving) on environmental damage. What isn't getting out there are the great strides in scientific exploration. Much research and money is continually being pumped into better ways to produce oil with the least amount of damage to the environment. Why am I for the oil? It affords Canadians the privilege to a good life. A lot of cash is filtered through ALL of Canada due to this resource. Alberta in particular benefits with being a province with no debt. Oil and gas employs 100's of 1000's of people and even more in spin offs.

Oil and gas are just a little of what Fort McMurray has to offer however. There are the Athabasca Sand Dunes, Boreal Forest with its many trails for hiking and ATVing, and of course all the normal touristy things that one finds in a City.