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Could Fort Mac become an eco-tourist hotspot?

Fort McMurray, the boomtown at the centre of Canada's oil sands, may not exactly be known for its pristine natural surroundings. But one Alberta research consultant thinks it could someday become a haven for environmentally conscious tourists.

"If we just tackled land reclamation in a big way," Stephen Murgatroyd recently told a creativity conference in Edmonton, "we could become an ecotourist mecca."

The Imagination Conversation, which Murgatroyd organized, examined creative ways for Alberta to thrive in an increasingly globalized world.

Fort McMurray is in fact already attracting small numbers of tourists. The Tyee joined some of them in 2010 for a chance to photograph oversize heavy hauler wheels and gawk at tailings ponds and strip-mines.

Murgatroyd's vision of a more "green"-tinted experience, though, may face a hurdle or two. Despite the ambitious reclamation plans of Syncrude and Suncor, a scientific report from last March concluded that turning mined landscape to functioning wetland is virtually impossible.

Perhaps a more modest proposal for Alberta's future came from fellow Imagination Conference participant, and ATB senior economist, Todd Hirsch.

His vision for the province? A global leader in oil-spill clean-up and expertise.

"We’d answer the question, 'How do you contain a spill in 30 minutes?" Hirsch told the conference. "Then we can say: 'We can’t guarantee no spills, but we can say we have the best technology for containment and cleanup.'"

Geoff Dembicki reports on energy and climate issues for The Tyee.

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