An effort was made to replicate, in Alberta, a white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss) sample obtained in British Columbia in which a spurt of rapid growth, analogous to a release event, coincided with a reduction in average wood density such that it was the lowest of 11 samples obtained in western Canada. White spruce trees were systematically sampled by 30, 40 and 50 cm diameter-at-breast height (DBH) classes from two natural stands one located near Hinton and one north of Grande Prairie. Mean ages of the tree samples were 104 and 108 years respectively. Based on eighty-one sample trees selected, site indices at breast-height age 50 were 19.3 and 18.5 respectively. Wood basic relative density was determined at breast height for each sample tree by x-ray densitometry of increment cores. Unlike previous samples obtained in Alberta, differences in mean wood density between stands were significant with values of 0.33 at Hinton and 0.35 at Grande Prairie. Mean relative density values for the 30, 40 and 50 cm DBH classes for the two samples combined were 0.36, 0.33 and 0.33 respectively compared to the species average of 0.354. ANOVA of basic relative density on DBH and stand (R2= 0.44) revealed that the effect of DBH (rate-of-growth) was significant (p = .0001). Within both stands, wood density of the 30 cm DBH class was significantly higher (a = 0.05) than that of the 40 and 50 cm DBH classes, between which wood density was not significantly different. In the Hinton sample this lack of difference between the 40 and 50 cm classes resulted from equivalent early annual growth rates. Difference in size occurred because the 50 cm trees were established about 10 years earlier. In the Grande Prairie sample growth rate in the 50 cm class was only moderately rapid. Pith-to-bark density trends were inversely related to ring width trends, consistent with previous trends observed in white spruce. A spurt of rapid growth in the Hinton sample coincided with a lower average wood density. This lends credence to similar results obtained in the earlier British Columbia sample. Foresters wanting to manage white spruce for value should consider these results when planning a thinning or overstory removal that accelerates growth rate in residual stands. The results should interest woodlands managers seeking to maximize current harvest value through more informed log allocation decisions.