Convert the Landscape
The federal government's role in turning the
Prairie landscape into a more productive economy
began with the introduction of a network of agricultural
research stations. From the two experimental
farms that were initially set up by the Department
of Agriculture at Indian Head and Brandon in 1886,
the number of research facilities was expanded
systematically over the first decades of the twentieth
century to cover all of western Canada's soil
types and climatic regions.
Federal assistance to the agricultural sector
was also provided in the form of irrigation
projects, most of which were concentrated
in southern Alberta where minimal rainfall had
to be supplemented if desirable crop yields were
to be obtained. Irrigation works were undertaken
initially by private corporations (including the
Canadian Pacific Railway and its investment companies),
with the federal government providing assistance
in the form of land grants, surveys,
and research on water containment and hydrography.
Mounting public concern over the loss of vast
tracts of original landscape to the agricultural
economy forced the federal government to use its
powers under the Dominion Lands Act to set aside
reserves
for the preservation of wildlife and forests,
and to augment its national
parks program. The first national parks in
western Canada were limited to the mountain regions,
but in the early-twentieth century the program
was expanded to include Elk Island (1913), Wood
Buffalo (1922), Prince Albert (1927), and Riding
Mountain (1929). Through the combined marketing
skills of the National
Parks Branch, the Natural
Resources Intelligence Branch, and the transcontinental
railways,
the western parks became favourite holiday destinations
for a growing and profitable tourist
industry.
Federal scientists also continued their work
in support of the petroleum
and mining industries. Geologists with the Geological
Survey of Canada actively mapped the substrata
underlying the Prairies and helped to find the
first natural
gas field at Medicine Hat (1904) and the first
oil field at Turner Valley (1910).
Further
Readings
See also
Casting
the Die of Agricultural History
> Next Theme: Western
Protest
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