Chetwynd, British Columbia

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Chetwynd
The townsite of Chetwynd in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains
Location of Chetwynd within the Peace River Regional District in British Columbia, Canada
Area	64.32 km²
Population	2,770
Pop'n density	43.1 /km²
Location	55°42′N 121°36′W
Altitude	615 metres
Incorporation	25 Sep 1962 (village) 31 May 1983 (district)
Province	British Columbia
Regional District	Peace River
MP	Jay Hill
MLA	Blair Lekstrom
Mayor	Evan Saugstad
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
Postal code	V0C 1J0
Area Code	250
Official website: District of Chetwynd

The District of Chetwynd (IPA: ['tʃɛtwɪnd]) is a small town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Peace River Regional District. The 64.32 km² (24.83 mi²) municipality is home to approximately 2,770 residents^[1] and consists of the town, a community forest, and four satellite properties. The town — once known as "Little Prairie" — adopted its current name in honour of provincial politician Ralph L.T. Chetwynd just prior to its incorporation in 1962.

As symbolized in its coat of arms, Chetwynd is situated at an ancient floodplain at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and acts as the gateway to the Peace River area to the east. The town developed during the construction of infrastructure through the Rocky Mountains in the 1950s and, today, its economy is dominated by primary industries such as forestry, natural gas extraction, agriculture and transportation.

[edit] History

From 1918 until the 1930s, the present townsite hosted a trading post on a grassy pasture known to the region's First Nations people as "Little Prairie". Settlers from the Peace River Country slowly migrated westwards, but geographic obstacles — including the Pine and Kiskatinaw Rivers — stopped them from settling in Little Prairie. In the 1920s, an airstrip that bypassed the treacherous terrain was built on Airport Flats, 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Little Prairie; this facilitated visits by Albertan hunting parties. Early discoveries of coal, natural gas, and oil attracted further investment and settlement.

By the 1950s, the region was known to be rich in natural resources including lumber, fossil fuels, and hydropower.^[2] In order to exploit them, a highway and rail line were built northwestward through the Rocky and Omineca Mountains to Little Prairie. In 1952, the John Hart Highway (named for former B.C. Premier John Hart) and an accompanying rail line were extended westward from Dawson Creek. Work camps associated with the projects stoked sharp increases in Chetwynd's population. The rail line, a natural gas pipeline, and a telephone line were all completed in 1958.

Provincial Minister of Railways Ralph L.T. Chetwynd (who also directed the Pacific Great Eastern Railway) headed a rail line project that connected Little Prairie to an old Northern Alberta Railways terminus in Dawson Creek. The line then continued through the Rocky Mountains before reaching North Vancouver. In early 1958, the first train ceremoniously arrived in Little Prairie from Vancouver. Its load included pipe to symbolize natural gas development, steel railway track for the extension of the rail line, box cars for grain and lumber, and a Northern Freightways truck representing freight hauling along the Alaska Highway.^[3] The railway station in Little Prairie was completed in 1959 and named after Chetwynd, who had died two years earlier. The post office adopted this name soon afterwards. "Chetwynd" became the community's official name on 1 July 1959, and it was incorporated as a municipality on 25 September 1962.

Growth continued in the 1960s when the town served as the rail-to-truck transshipment point for delivering workers and supplies to the construction site of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, which was located in nearby Hudson's Hope. In 1964 the logging company Canfor bought a sawmill in the town and eventually became one of its major employers. Rail access to the interior turned Chetwynd into a major supplier of forestry products to the province. Eventually, it would be named the forestry capital of Canada.^[4]

Sign and chainsaw carvings along B.C. highway 97 welcoming travelers going east.

The dam's 1967 completion resulted in slower growth in the early 1970s. However, the town grew again in the late 1970s and early 1980s due to the construction of the Peace Canyon Dam near the Bennett Dam, along with significant oil and gas exploration activities in the region, and the construction of the mining town Tumbler Ridge. Chetwynd thus was re-incorporated as a district in 1983 with a population of 2,957 people. With no more mega-projects, Chetwynd’s population remained relatively stable at about 3,000 people with a peak population in 1996 at 3,113 people.

On 4 December 1996, Chetwynd's boundaries were expanded to include 49 km² (19 mi²) of forested land and industrial properties.^[5] The majority of this came from moving the northern border up 210 metres (689 ft) over Ol’ Baldy Ridge to create a community forest, a concept which originated from a Chetwynd Secondary School proposal in 1980 for a fitness trail.^[6] That trail became the backbone of a system of interconnected trails and greenspaces that went up Ol' Baldy. Four satellite industrial properties — a gas plant, sulfur processing plant, coal mine, and pulp mill — were also incorporated into the District for taxation purposes, since they were heavily impacting Chetwynd’s infrastructure but not contributing to its maintenance.

[edit] Demographics

Chetwynd's population trend, 1976–2005, BC Stats.^{[7] [8] [9]}

An initial 1958 population estimate — inclusive of nearby work camps — associated with Chetwynd's application for incorporation recorded 750 residents.^[10] The 1966 Canadian census, the first to define Chetwynd as a distinct subdivision counted 1,368 residents.^[11] Subsequent census counts documented population booms occurring in the 1970s and '80s; nevertheless, the population declined in the late 1990s when the U.S.-Canada softwood lumber dispute forced several mills to either scale back production or close.

According to the 2001 Canadian census,^[12] Chetwynd had 2,591 residents living in 1,010 households. The household compositions were similar to the provincial averages with almost even numbers of households containing one person and those containing married couples without children, but with higher levels of married couples with children. Differing from the provincial average, Chetwynd had fewer married-coupled families and more lone-parent and common-law families. Chetwynd had a young population — with a median age of 31.1 years, lower than the provincial average of 38.4 years — with almost half the level of residents over the age of 65 years, as well as significantly higher levels of residents are under 15. In addition, the census noted that Protestantism and Catholicism were, by far, the most dominant religions and that only a scant 0.4% of residents reported themselves as being visible minorities (significantly lower than the 21% provincial average).

Crime rate in Chetwynd, 1995–2004.^[13]

In 2004, the nine officer Chetwynd Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment, which covers the municipality and nearby rural communities, reported 833 Criminal Code of Canada offenses. This translated into a crime rate of 142 Criminal Code offenses per 1,000 people, higher than the provincial average of 125 offenses. During that year, Chetwynd had rates of 15.8 non-sexual assaults, 11.2 impaired drivings, 5.1 cocaine-related offenses reported, all higher than the provincial rates of 9.9, 3.2, and 1.4, per 1,000 people, respectively. Conversely, Chetwynd had lower than average rates for robbery at 0.2, bicycle theft at 0.5, and theft from motor vehicle at 6.5 reported offenses whereas the provincial averages were 1.1, 2.5, and 20.2, repectively.^[13]

[edit] Geography and climate

Carved out of an ancient floodplain, the small terrace upon which Chetwynd is situated lies in the northern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Once used as a grazing spot by nomadic Aboriginals, the terrace was farmed by settlers until it was developed into a town. Two types of soil — namely, the Widmark and Centurion Series — comprise the terrace's surface. The Widmark Series — a moderately well-drained degraded loamy, woody, silty, and clay-like soil — lies north of Highway 97. Meanwhile, the Centurion Series — which lies south of the highway — is a poorly-drained soil with a dark-brown peaty surface material consisting of decomposed leaves and mosses. These soils, also limited by topography and stoniness, are generally unarable for even hardy crops such as cereal grains, but can sustain perennial forage and pastures.^[14][15]

The town is surrounded by forested hills but the prairies of the Peace River Country begin here and continue eastward into Alberta. It lies in a transitionary area dividing two biogeoclimatic regions: the Boreal White and Black Spruce zone and the Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir zone.^[16][17] The area's native tree species include deciduous balsam poplar and coniferous spruce, larch, tamarack, and pine. Many fur-bearing animals — deer, moose, elk, beaver, and bear — comprise the region's mammalian wildlife. Three creeks run south through town. Windrem Creek — which flows down from Ol' Baldy Mountain — and Widmark Creek both flow into Centurion Creek, which itself drains south into the Pine River.

The town, located in the northeastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, experiences a cool continental climate, including frigid winters and warm summers. Coming off Williston Lake, southwesterly winds predominate through town, with wind speeds averaging around 8.2 km/h (5.1 mi/h).^[19] Because it experiences long daylight hours in summer and short daylight hours in winter, Chetwynd uses Mountain Standard Time year-round.

[edit] Transportation and infrastructure

Chetwynd's road network, creeks, and parks.

The John Hart Highway portion of B.C. highway 97 runs east-west through Chetwynd, connecting the town to Dawson Creek (102 km (67 mi) east) and Prince George (304 km (185 mi) south). Also, B.C. highway 29 (Don Philips Way) runs north-south through Chetwynd, connecting the town to Hudson’s Hope (60 km (34 mi) north) and Tumbler Ridge (89 km (47 mi) southeast). The downtown core lies just west of the intersection of highway 97 and highway 29. Chetwynd's internal street network has 28 km (17 mi) of paved road^[20] which uses the highway as its main arterial road. For local trips frontage roads run parallel to much of the highway. The residential areas are well insulated from the industry and the highway by the use of natural features, such as contours or creeks, and vegetative buffers.

Chetwynd has rail, air, and bus service for regional and provincial transportation needs. Rail lines enter Chetwynd from three directions: from Fort St. John in the north, from Dawson Creek in the east, and from Prince George in the south. Pacific Great Eastern Railway (later BC Rail) ran passenger service to Chetwynd from 1956 to 1990. Since then the trains have been used for moving resources such as lumber and coal. The District of Chetwynd has operated the unmanned Chetwynd Municipal Airport (IATA codeYCQ) since 1970. The runway was paved in 1975 but only handles chartered flights and helicopters. The closest airports with commercial airlines are at Fort St. John, Tumbler Ridge and Dawson Creek. Greyhound Bus Lines maintain a bus stop in town on their Vancouver-Prince George-Dawson Creek route.

The District of Chetwynd consists of a main townsite plus four satellite properties. The intersection of B.C. highways 29 and 97 is located in Chetwynd. Three creeks run through Chetwynd and empty into the Pine River, which Chetwynd uses as a source for drinking water and a receptacle for treated sewage.

The District uses the northeast-flowing Pine River as both a source of drinking water and an outlet for sewage. The former comes from an intake pipe southwest of town with an average daily intake of 1.9 million litres (0.50 million US gal, 0.41 million imp gal).^[21] Its sewage is collected by 28 kilometres (17 mi) of sanitary sewers and 3 kilometres (2 mi) of storm sewers.^[20] Raw sewage is processed by a five-cell lagoon system and released into the Pine River south of town at an average daily rate of 1.9 million litres (0.52 million US gal, 0.43 million imp gal).^[21] Oil pipeline ruptures are a constant threat to the water supply. The last major accident occurred in 2000 when a million litres (6,300 bbl) of crude oil spilled into the river from a ruptured pipeline near the intake pipe.^[22]

Chetwynd's schools are administered by School District 59 Peace River South, which operates one secondary school (Chetwynd Secondary School) with a 2003 enrollment of 516 people,^[23] and three primary schools (Don Titus Elementary, Windrem Elementary, Little Prairie Elementary) with a combined 2003 enrollment of 630 children.^[23] Northern Lights College maintains a campus in Chetwynd, which has a 2003 enrollment of 170 students (based on full-time equivalents).^[23] It was established in 1976 with eight general interest and two university transfer courses.^[24] Today, the programs and courses offered at the Chetwynd campus are oriented towards training students for work in the local primary industries.

[edit] Economy

Looking east along BC highway 97, North Access frontage road on the left, wind turbines power lights in the trees.

Chetwynd is the commercial centre for the rural communities of the Pine River Valley. These rural residents are mostly cattle, sheep, and bison ranchers and use the town as a transportation hub to ship their products via highways or rail. After the 1950–1980 boom period, the town's economy has been bolstered by primary industries, including lumber mills (West Fraser Mills, Canadian Forest Industries, Tembec Pulp Mill), gas plants (Duke Energy, Talisman Energy), a coal processing plant (Pine Valley Mining), and a sulfur processing plant (Enersul). Since the late 1990s, Chetwynd has undergone an economic downturn from the closure of coal mines in Tumbler Ridge and the softwood lumber trade dispute between Canada and the United States, which lead to the closure of the Louisiana-Pacific Canada Pulp Company pulp operations in 2001.^[25] Since then, the economy has rebounded with increased oil, gas and mineral exploration and tourist marketing of the area's outdoor recreational activities and chainsaw carvings art program. Recently, proposals have been made to reopen coal mines to the south^[26] and wind farms to the north^[27] and south.^[28]

The 2001 Canadian census recorded 1,120 income-earners over the age of 15 residing in Chetwynd; of these, 690 worked full time throughout the year. Chetwynd's 19.1% unemployment rate and 72.1% participation rate both exceed the provincial rates of 8.5% and 65.2%, respectively. The high participation rate stems from the relatively young population, much of which was attracted by Chetwynd's industrial jobs. Chetwynd's 16.9% poverty rate compares favourably to the provincial average of 17.8%, although its male-female income gap is large. In 2001, the gross average yearly earnings for income-earners was CAD$42,426 for males (higher than the CAD$38,039 provincial average) and CAD$19,396 for females (lower than the CAD$24,401 provincial average).^[12]

[edit] Culture and recreation

Chetwynd's culture includes an appreciation of heritage, public art, and outdoor recreation. The Little Prairie Heritage Museum, located in one of the town's oldest buildings (a converted post office dating to 1949) displays artifacts and re-creations of the town’s frontier times. The museum also displays nostalgia pieces from the construction of infrastructure through the Rocky Mountains. A public art program, started in 1987, showcases over 50 chainsaw carvings spread throughout town with a downtown monument that declares Chetwynd the “Chainsaw Sculpture Capitol of the World”. The town’s first annual chainsaw carving contest was held in June 2005. In the winter, the town uses wind power generators to power decorative lights and holds a winter lights display competition for residents and businesses. The 2.7 metre (9 ft) tall statue located alongside the highway, named The Little Giant, was acquired in 1967, and can be altered by replacing the ax with other accessories, such as a lasso, a rifle, a gold pan or a pitchfork, to symbolize how versatile settlers had to be in this area. From this statue the town gained the slogan “Chetwynd, the Little Giant of the Great Peace”.

Mount Baldy, locally known as Ol’ Baldy Hill, is a community forest within Chetwynd, north of the townsite.

For outdoor recreation, a community forest on Mount Baldy provides residents with trails for walking, hiking, cycling, and cross-country skiing close to home. About 100 km west of town (and closer to the Rocky Mountains) the Powder King Mountain Resort provides downhill skiing opportunities. Several provincial parks are also nearby, including Gwillim Lake Provincial Park (56 km, 35 miles southeast), Moberly Lake Provincial Park (25 km, 16 miles northwest), Pine River Breaks Provincial Park (15 km, 9 miles east), and East Pine Provincial Park (30 km, 19 miles east). Chetwynd also has a large indoor rodeo facility, an outdoor speed skating oval, and a general recreation complex, which features an ice arena, wave pool, six-lane curling rink, two baseball diamonds, and a skateboard park. The town was ranked, in 2004, as one of B.C.'s most livable municipalities in large part due to its large park spaces.^[29]

Since the 1970s, the Chetwynd Communications Society has worked to establish radio and television service. For many years, they rebroadcast pre-recorded content to Chetwynd and surrounding communities via a telecommunications tower on nearby Wabi Mountain. On 5 December 1996, 94.5 CHET FM — the town's first radio station — went on-air. Since then the station has expanded with a repeater tower in Dawson Creek at 104.1 and is now known collectively as Peace FM. Its programming uses a series of specialty programs such as metal, gospel, hard rock, and dance. Chetwynd's community television station, CHET TV, began broadcasting on 8 March 2000, in a ceremony attended by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Two periodicals cover local news: the biweekly newsletter Coffee Talk Express and the weekly newspaper Chetwynd Echo.

[edit] Government and politics

Chetwynd town hall, fire hall, and ambulance bay.

The District of Chetwynd's council-manager form of municipal government is headed by a mayor (who also represents Chetwynd on the Peace River Regional District's governing board) and a six-member council; these positions are subject to at-large elections every three years. The current mayor, Evan Saugstad, was first elected in 2003, and re-elected by acclamation in 2005. Two school board trustees, for representation on school district #59,^[30] are also elected by the town and most of the surrounding rural area. The city funds a volunteer fire department, which services the town and nearby rural communities. The same area has emergency medical services provided by the five-bed, one-ambulance Chetwynd General Hospital.

Chetwynd is part of the Peace River South provincial electoral district, represented by Blair Lekstrom in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. In the 2001 provincial election, he was elected as the district's Member of the Legislative Assembly with 69% support from the city's polls^[31] and re-elected in 2005 with 54% support.^[32] Before Lekstrom, Peace River South was represented, between 1986 and 2001, by Jack Weisgerber, a member of the Social Credit Party of British Columbia (1986-1994) and Reform Party of British Columbia (1994-2001). In 1996, as leader of the Reform Party, Weisgerber won re-election despite the Chetwynd polls placing him second to the BC Liberal Party candidate.^[33]

Federally, Chetwynd is located in the Prince George—Peace River riding, represented in the Canadian House of Commons by Conservative Party Member of Parliament Jay Hill. Before Hill, who was first elected in 1993, the riding was represented by former Chetwynd mayor Frank Oberle of the Progressive Conservative Party. Oberle was elected Chetwynd's mayor in 1968 and its MP in 1972. He became Canada's first German-born minister when he was appointed Minister of Science and Technology in 1985. He also served as Canada's Minister of Forestry in 1989.

[edit] References

General references

[edit] External links

• Chetwynd's five day forecast from Environment Canada
• Weekly report from mayor
• Chetwynd Public Library
• School District 59
• CHET TV
• Coffee Talk Express
• Calverley Collection (historical documents)
• Discover the Peace Country - Chetwynd

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