FORT VERMILION, Alta. – Mackenzie County’s agricultural land sale didn’t happen overnight.
The process, which involved years of fighting with the provincial government, started in the mid-1990s when the province’s sustainable resource development (SRD) ministry approached the improvement district about a land swap.
The improvement district was then a local rural government advisory body that later became a municipal district and is now a county.
Under the agreement, SRD would swap remote land classified as agricultural but still covered in bush for land classified as non-agricultural bush land but closer to settled areas.
Read Also
Stacking Canada up on gene editing livestock
Canada may want to gauge how Argentina and other countries have approached gene editing in livestock and what that has meant for local innovation.
The councillors agreed in principle and signed away 136,000 acres of remote farmland.
About a year later, SRD offered the municipality land equal to about 10 percent of what was taken.
“That’s when the battle lines were drawn and that’s when the fight began,” said Greg Newman, former Mackenzie County reeve and Fort Vermilion farmer.
Unfortunately, a formal agreement had never been signed. All the county had were letters containing a vague commitment from the government to return the same amount of land the county had given up.
SRD’s response was that there had never been an agreement to swap acre for acre, said Newman, who spent years lobbying politicians, bureaucrats and premiers to honour what the county believed was the government’s commitment.
“There wasn’t a champion for agriculture. There was nobody we could find within the bureaucracy to promote our position to increase the land base. Instead, they threw every stick they could to hinder us,” he said.
“If you can’t get the bureaucrats on side, it’s a struggle.”
A government committee was established to see what land within the county was suitable for agriculture. Newman said it seemed every committee member had a reason why the land couldn’t be taken out of the protected green zone.
“If you look at the province of Alberta when agriculture started, if it went through the same process there would be no farmland in Alberta,” said Newman, whose family has farmed in the Fort Vermilion area for 85 years.
“Now if we’ve got a slough in one corner, everyone thinks that quarter should be left for conservation.”
Darcy Beach, SRD’s manager overseeing the land sale, said identifying land suitable for agriculture took time.
“It was a slow process. There were lots of issues on the table that had to be looked at and dealt with,” said Beach. “The first phase did take some time.”
Beach said land with high environmental values, including land critical for wildlife, fisheries and water conservation, was not sold. Land with salable timber will be harvested and then sold.
The tide began to turn when county officials met with Alberta premier Ed Stelmach to press their case. They repeated their story a year later when Stelmach returned to the north.
“We told him, ‘the government made a commitment and it was never fulfilled,’ ” said Newman.
The county received a call a month later that it had a deal.
“I think the premier had a lot to do with it,” said Newman.
The county was also told that the land was to be sold immediately and not tied up in more bureaucratic red tape.
“That was a bonus that was well received.”
The land sale was divided into three phases: the first was to sell land close to the settled areas of La Crete, the second would be to identify and sell land east of Fort Vermilion and the third would be west of High Level.
Newman doesn’t think the county’s fight is over yet.
The land at La Crete has been identified and mostly sold, but arrangements for the land to be sold around Fort Vermilion and High Level are still vague.
“We haven’t got 135,000 acres back yet. There’s a little bit of waffling going on, you can tell by the undercurrents. There seems like there might be some drag getting that loosened up,” said Newman.
“The fight isn’t over quite yet.”
Beach said he believes the land sales at La Crete have been a success. Sixty quarters didn’t sell in the first four auction sales of phase one, but the rest met the minimum bid of 85 percent of their appraised value.
The lowest paid for one quarter was $15,725 and the highest bid was $125,000.
“Some of the folks are amazed at what the land is going for,” said Beach.
Mackenzie County’s unique micro-climate and long growing days sets it apart from more southerly areas.
Explorer Alexander Mackenzie wrote in his journal in 1792 about the wonderful garden of turnips, carrots, parsnips and potatoes at what is now Fort Vermilion.
Last summer, almost all the wheat grown in the region graded number one.
“Up here you can take class four land and turn it into highly productive land,” said Newman.
“Like most young farmers, I started with bush. I have picked my roots.”
Dicky Driedger, chair of the county’s government land sale committee, estimates it will cost $100,000 per mile of road that needs to be built in the newly sold land.
“It’s going to be a huge bill,” he said. “We’re hoping to pry some money
out of SRD to do the infrastructure. When you think about all the money SRD is getting from the land, it would be nice to get some money back.”
The 266 quarters of land near La Crete sold for $12 million.
Facts about the land sale
•Only Canadian citizens or landed immigrants age 18 or older are eligible to purchase land
•Land is sold in parcels not exceeding 160 acres
•All proceeds go to a Land Stewardship Fund used for the purchase and conservation of sensitive private lands in Alberta
•All land will be independently appraised and will not be sold unless a minimum of 85 percent of the appraised value is met
•Land critical for wildlife, fisheries and water conservation or that is home to at-risk species (grizzlies, caribou) will not be sold
•The purchaser is expected to maintain wildlife habitat in unused areas. Some parcels within large forested areas still have protective notations providing ecological corridors that restrict some agricultural expansion
———
Source: Government of Alberta | MICHELLE HOULDEN GRAPHIC
