1876. The chief of the Alexis Band was Catholic and was not tolerant of other religions. The Wabamum Lake band were Protestant. By 1892, the federal government realized the two bands, the Alexis and the Wabamun Lake band had irreconcilable differences and therefore created a second reserve for the Paul Band settled at White Whale Lake. The reserve name was changed to Wabamun Lake Indian Reserve. Paul Band was named after the head man at the time. According to government documents, Paul's brother Ironhead, had led them to Wabamun Lake, but Ironhead died before the reserve was officially founded. The reserve was called Wabamun Lake Indian Reserve and the Band was called Paul Band. Eventually the popular name for the reserve became Paul Band. Wabamun Lake Ironhead had moved his band to Wabamun Lake by 1880 because the fishing was good there. There are rolling aspen hills and good land surrounding the lake. Starting around 1850, the mission at Lac Ste. Anne began fishing nearby lakes to provide fish to customers in Edmonton. By 2003, the lake was described as one of the most heavily used lakes in Alberta by limnologist David Schindler. It is also one of the most popular recreational lakes in Alberta. Paul Band First Nation Reserve is on the east end of the lake. There is a village, Wabamun, and a number of summer villages and subdivisions on the lake shore. The Yellowhead Highway and CNR railroad tracks parallel the north shore. There are coal mines north and south of the lake as well as TransAlta's Wabamun (now decommissioned) and Sundance power plants and cooling ponds for the Sundance and Keephills power plants. There is Wabamun Lake Provincial Park at Moonlight Bay and a golf course managed by the Paul Band First Nation Reserve. Since 1912, Lake Wabamun water levels have been "repeatedly and illegally modified" by "different groups wishing to regulate lake levels at either very high or very low levels." Twenty two percent of the catchment basin of Lake Wabamun has been disturbed by two coal mines, the Highvale, covering 12,600 hectares, the largest coal mine in Canada and the Whitewood mine. Strip mining involves remove overburden to expose the coal seam that is then mined in distinct strips. By 2004, these two mines had disturbed 5,593 ha of the Lake Wabamun catch basin. The vast majority of the coal burning in Alberta occurs