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Tumbler Ridge is a
district municipality A district municipality is a designation for a class of municipalities found in several locations, including Canada, Lithuania, and South Africa. Canada British Columbia Under provincial law, municipalities in British Columbia are to be desig ...
in the foothills of the B.C. Rockies in northeastern
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada, and a member municipality of the
Peace River Regional District The Peace River Regional District is a regional district in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The regional district comprises seven municipalities and four electoral areas. Its member municipalities are the cities of Fort St. John and Daws ...
. With a population of 2,399 (2021) living in a townsite, the municipality encompasses an area of of mostly Crown land. The townsite is located near the confluence of the Murray River and Flatbed Creek and the intersection of Highway 52 and Highway 29 and includes the site of the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and Tumbler Ridge Airport. It is part of the
Peace River South Peace River South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created under the name South Peace River by the ''Constitution Amendment Act, 1955'', which split the old riding of Peace R ...
provincial electoral district and the
Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies (previously Prince George—Peace River) is a federal electoral district in northern British Columbia, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography It c ...
federal riding. Tumbler Ridge is a
planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
with the housing and infrastructure construct built simultaneously in 1981 by the provincial government to service the
coal industry Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when de ...
as part of the
British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation The British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, or BCRIC (pronounced "brick"), was a holding company formed under the government of William R. Bennett. The company took over ownership of various sawmills and mines that had been bought and ...
's Northeast Coal Development. In 1981, a consortium of Japanese steel mills agreed to purchase 100 million tonnes of coal over 15 years for US$7.5 billion from two mining companies, Denison Mines Inc. and the Teck Corporation, who were to operate the Quintette mine and the Bullmoose mine respectively. Declining global coal prices after 1981, and weakening Asian markets in the late 1990s, made the town's future uncertain and kept it from achieving its projected population of 10,000 people. The uncertainty dissuaded investment and kept the economy from diversifying. When price reductions were forced onto the mines, the Quintette mine was closed in 2000 production and the town lost about half its population. Coal prices began to rise after the turn of the century, leading to the opening of the Peace River Coal Trend mine by Northern Energy & Mining Inc. (now owned by Anglo American Met Coal) and the Wolverine Mine, originally owned by Western Canadian Coal, which was purchased by
Walter Energy Walter Energy, Inc. was a publicly traded "pure play" metallurgical coal producer for the global steel industry. The company also produced natural gas, steam coal and industrial coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke, and coal bed methane gas. ...
in 2010. Walter went bankrupt in 2015, and their Canadian assets—including the Wolverine Mine—were purchased by Conuma Coal in 2016. After dinosaur footprints and fossils were discovered in the municipality, along with
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s of
Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
fishes and
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
plants, the Peace Region Paleontology Research Center opened in 2003, followed by a dinosaur museum. The study of the area led to a recognition of its geological importance and listing in the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Global Geopark Network. Nearby recreational destinations include numerous trails, mountains, waterfalls, snowmobiling areas and provincial parks, such as Monkman Provincial Park, Bearhole Lake Provincial Park, and
Gwillim Lake Provincial Park Gwillim Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the A ...
.


History

Archaeological evidence show a human presence dating back 3,000 years. The nomadic
Sekani Sekani or Tse’khene are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Their territory includes the Finlay and Parsnip River drainages of the Rocky Mountain Trench. The ne ...
, followed by the
Dunneza The Dane-zaa (ᑕᓀᖚ, also spelled Dunne-za, or Tsattine) are an Athabaskan-speaking group of First Nations people. Their traditional territory is around the Peace River in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Today, about 1,600 Dane-zaa resi ...
and then the Cree, periodically lived in temporary settlements around the future municipality. Formal exploratory and surveying expeditions were conducted by S. Prescott Fay, with Robert Cross and Fred Brewster in 1914, J.C. Gwillim in 1919, Edmund Spieker in 1920, and John Holzworth in 1923. Spieker coined the name ''Tumbler Ridge'', referring to the mountains northwest of the future town, by altering Gwillim's map that named them ''Tumbler Range''. Permanent settlers were squatters, five families by 1920, who maintained trap lines. In the 1950s and 1960s, oil and natural gas exploration and logging was conducted through the area, and 15 significant coal deposits were discovered. Coal prices rose after the 1973 oil crisis leading to 40 government studies examining the viability of accessing the coal, given the 1,130 km (700 mi) to the nearest port and the mountainous barrier. With these coal deposits in mind, a purchasing agreement was signed in 1981 by two Canadian mining companies, a consortium of Japanese steel mills, and the governments of British Columbia and Canada. As part of the deal, the provincial government committed, under the North East Coal Development plan, to build a new town near the deposits, two highways off Highway 97, a power line from the W. A. C. Bennett Dam at
Hudson's Hope Hudson's Hope is a district municipality in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, in the Peace River Regional District. Having been first settled along the Peace River in 1805, it is the third-oldest European-Canadian community in the province, a ...
, and a branch rail line through the Rocky Mountains. An alternative of using work camps staffed by people from Dawson Creek and Chetwynd was also considered. Massive initial investments were required as planning for the new town began in 1976 with the objective of having a fully functioning town ready before residents arrived. The community's 1977 conceptual plan estimated a population of 3,568 residents in 1981, 7,940 in 1985, and 10,584 in 1987, after which the level was expected to stabilize. The planners of the community advised the mining companies to hire workers who were married, believing they would live in Tumbler Ridge longer and reduce employment turnover. Coordinated through the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the community, regional infrastructure, and mining plants were all built simultaneously. When the municipality was incorporated in April 1981 the area was completely forested."Tumbler Ridge looks ready for the builders", ''Alaska Highway News'', December 30, 1981. During that year building sites and roadways were cleared and in the winter the water and sewer system was built. In 1982, houses and other buildings were constructed. Full production at the mines was reached the following year. The population rose to 3,833 people in 1984. The 1986 Canadian census, the first census to recognize Tumbler Ridge as a
census subdivision The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...
, recorded 4,566 residents. In 1984, world coal prices were dropping and the Japanese consortium requested a reduction in the price of coal from the Tumbler Ridge mines. As price reduction requests continued, the concern over the viability of the mines led the
BC Assessment Authority The British Columbia Assessment Authority is a publicly owned Crown Corporation in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. BC Assessment was created in 1974, as a result of a provincial government all-party committee unanimous recommendation tha ...
to lower the 1987 property assessments for the Quintette mine from CAD$156 million to $89 million and the Bullmoose mine $70 million to $43 million.Halseth (2002). This lowered their taxes as they tried to enforce the purchasing agreement at the Supreme Court of Canada. Their 1990 ruling required the Quintette Operations Company to reduce coal prices and reimburse the Japanese consortium $4.6 million. The company responded by reducing production, cutting employment, and applying for court protection from creditors. This allowed Teck to acquire 50% interest and take over management of the Quintette mine, but it was unable to stop further job losses. Tumbler Ridge’s population, which had peaked in 1991 at 4,794 people, began to decline. As most residents left town, apartment blocks were closed and the mine companies bought back all but 11 houses in the town. After 30% of the workforce had been laid off, new contracts with the Japanese consortium were signed in 1997, allowing re-hirings to begin, but with lower export levels. The North East Coal Development was projected to create a net benefit of CAD$0.9 billion (2000), but incurred a net loss of $2.8 billion and half the expected regional employment. The population declined as many residents were unable to find other work in the town, even as a sawmill for specialty woods opened in 1999. After Teck closed the Quintette mine in August 2000 and shifted production to the lower cost Bullmoose mine, the municipal council established the Tumbler Ridge Revitalization Task Force to investigate ways to boost and diversify the economy. The Task Force negotiated the return of the housing stock from the mines to the free market, grants from the province to become debt-free, and stabilized funds from the province for healthcare and education. The discovery of dinosaur tracks in 2000 by two local boys while playing near a creek, led to major fossil and bone discoveries from the
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
Period. To survey and study the finds, government funding was secured to found both the Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation and Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre. Tumbler Ridge' population was recorded as 1,932 people in 2001. The community went through a second boom-and-bust cycle beginning in 2004 with the increase in world coal prices. Western Canadian Coal opened new open-pit mining operations creating the Brule (Dillon) mine using some of the Bullmoose mining infrastructure, between the townsite and Chetwynd, and the Wolverine mine. These mines were purchased by
Walter Energy Walter Energy, Inc. was a publicly traded "pure play" metallurgical coal producer for the global steel industry. The company also produced natural gas, steam coal and industrial coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke, and coal bed methane gas. ...
in 2010, but world coal prices began to drop again in 2011 and in April 2014, Walter put their Canadian operations into
care and maintenance Care and maintenance is a term used in the mining industry to describe processes and conditions on a closed minesite where there is potential to recommence operations at a later date. During a care and maintenance phase, production is stopped but t ...
, laying off nearly 700 people. Similarly, Anglo American placed their Trend mine in care and maintenance in 2015. These second generation coal mines were not as dominant in town affairs as Quinette and Bullmoose were such that, while as of 2016 there were no operating coal mines, the town had achieved some success in other activities, such as
wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...
, forestry and tourism. Most significantly, the area around Tumbler Ridge was listed as North America's second
UNESCO Global Geopark UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGp) are geoparks certified by the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council as meeting all the requirements for belonging to the Global Geoparks Network (GGN). The GGN is both a network of geoparks and the agency of the United Nati ...
s promoting its geological significance.


Demographics

In the
2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by Statistics Canada, Tumbler Ridge had a population of 2,399 living in 1,093 of its 1,551 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,987. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The 2016 Canadian Census reported Tumbler Ridge's median age increased from 38.8 years in 2001 to 39.4 in 2016. In 2006, of those over 15 years of age, 62% were married, higher than the 54% provincial average.Statistics Canada, ''2006 Community Profiles''. The town has few
visible minorities A visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada, in connect ...
as 94% of Tumbler Ridge residents were Canadian-born and 93% had English as their
first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
. Though not included as a minority, 9% of residents claimed to have an Aboriginal identity. Reflecting the nature of the industrial jobs available in town, in 2001, only 12% of residents between 20 and 64 years of age completed university, half of the provincial average, and 26% did not complete high school, much higher than the 19% provincial average.


Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Tumbler Ridge included: *
Irreligion Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ...
(1,430 persons or 59.7%) *
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
(935 persons or 39.0%) *Other (25 persons or 1.0%)


Geography and climate

The townsite is located on a series of southern-facing gravel terraces on a ridge of Mount Bergeron, overlooking the confluence of the Murray and Wolverine Rivers. The site, above the floodplain of the Murray River, has well-drained soils with easy access to aquifers with potable water.PLEDA, 76. The rocks, mostly shale and mudstone but lacking quartzite, make the mountains less rugged than their neighbouring ranges. The terraces grow
Lodgepole Pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...
,
White Spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce ('' Picea'') and may refer to: * ''Picea glauca'', native to most of Canada and Alaska with limited populations in the northeastern United States * '' Picea engelmannii'', native to the ...
, Trembling Aspen trees. Moose and elk are common. Escarpments to the east and north could pose a snow avalanche threat but are kept forested for stability. In 2006, the town was evacuated for several days as four
forest fires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
approached the town. Major coal deposits indicate the site was a swampy forest during the
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
. Paleontologists have discovered tracks or fossils from
ankylosauria Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the order Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs. ...
,
ornithopod Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous wo ...
s (including a ''
Hadrosaurus ''Hadrosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now the Woodbury Formation about 80 million to 78 million years ago. The holotype specimen was found in f ...
''), and
theropod Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...
s. Fossils of Cretaceous plants such as ferns, redwoods, cycads, and
ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus with ...
, and
Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
fishes and reptiles such as
coelacanth The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...
s, ''
Weigeltisaurus ''Weigeltisaurus'' is an extinct genus of weigeltisaurid reptile from the Late Permian Kupferschiefer of Germany and Marl Slate of England. It has a single species, originally named as ''Palaechamaeleo jaekeli'' in 1930 and later assigned the na ...
'', and ichthyosaurs have been recovered. The town experiences a continental climate. Arctic air masses move predominantly southwestly from the Mackenzie Valley towards the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
and through the mountains north of town. The town is in a rain shadow behind Mount Bergeron, though much of the precipitation is lost in the mountains beforehand. Town planners laid out the roads so that they run along wind breaks, and buildings and parks are located in wind shadows. After examining other resource towns in Canada, the planners followed socio-spatial guidelines and principles in physical planning. The coal mining facilities were well separated from the townsite to minimize the feeling of a company town. An attempt to mitigate potential lifestyle conflicts between families and childless households was made by separating the low-density, single-family dwellings from the low-rise apartments.Thompson et al. (1978), 99. The apartment blocks were planned for areas with clusters of trees and excellent viewscapes, but close to the town plaza. The low-density residences that were more likely to have children living in them were oriented around elementary schools and parks. Cul-de-sacs were avoided in favour of better linkages and pedestrian access.


Infrastructure and services

Two highways diverge from Highway 97 and intersect in Tumbler Ridge: Highway 52 (Heritage Highway) which runs 98 km (61 mi) south at Arras, and Highway 29 which runs 90 km (56 mi) southeast from Chetwynd. At the intersection Highway 29 ends but Highway 52 continues south past Tumbler Ridge, then unpaved, it runs northeast to Highway 2 near the
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
border. In town, the 28 km (17 mi) of paved roads are laid out in a curvilinear pattern that use two arterial roads, MacKenzie Way and Monkman Way, to connect each section of town. Service roads from the townsite to the mines and forestry areas are maintained by the industries but are unpaved. The unmanned Tumbler Ridge Airport, with its 1,219 m (4,000 ft) asphalt runway, is used by chartered and local flights. The closest airports with regularly scheduled flights are in Dawson Creek, Fort St John and Grande Prairie. The rail line into town is a 132 km (82 mi) formerly electrified branch line through the Rocky Mountains constructed by
BC Rail BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the British ...
to transport coal to the Ridley Terminal at the
Port of Prince Rupert The Port of Prince Rupert is a seaport managed by the Prince Rupert Port Authority that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located in Prince Rupert Harbour in the North Coast Regional District of British Columbia. The ...
. The branch line includes two major tunnels: the 9 km (6 mi) Table Tunnel and the 6 km (4 mi) Wolverine Tunnel. Fire rescue services are provided by the town's own 16-member composite fire department. Police services are provided by the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
which maintains a five officer detachment within the municipality. BCEHS maintains an on-call ambulance service as well as a Community Paramedicine Program. Tumbler Ridge Search and Rescue provide backcountry emergency response to the surrounding areas around Tumbler Ridge. The town operates a water treatment system and sewage disposal system.
Drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
is drawn from two drilled wells south of the townsite where it is stored in a 7 million litre reservoir before being
chlorinated In chemistry, halogenation is a chemical reaction that entails the introduction of one or more halogens into a compound. Halide-containing compounds are pervasive, making this type of transformation important, e.g. in the production of polyme ...
and pumped into town. The storm sewers empty into the Murray River, but the sanitary sewage is processed through a
lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...
system and released into the Murray River north of town. Both the town and the province, through the Northern Health Authority, operate the Tumbler Ridge Community Health Centre. The closest hospitals with over-night beds are in Chetwynd and Dawson Creek. The two public schools, Tumbler Ridge Elementary School and Tumbler Ridge Secondary School are run by the School District 59 Peace River South. Post-secondary courses, programs, and industry training are offered by
Northern Lights College Northern Lights College (NLC) is an institution that provides post-secondary education to residents of Northern British Columbia. It currently has campuses and access centers in eight communities across the northern third of British Columbia, wit ...
at the secondary school and community centre.


Economy

Tumbler Ridge was built to provide a labour force for the coal mining industry, which has remained the dominant employer throughout the town's history. The mining companies had a contract to sell 100 million tons of coal to a consortium of Japanese steel mills over 15 years for US$7.5 billion (1981). The Quintette Operating Corporation (QOC) was formed by partnership between
Denison Mines Denison Mines Corp. is a Canadian uranium exploration, development, and production company. Founded by Stephen B. Roman, and best known for its uranium mining in Blind River and Elliot Lake, it later diversified into coal, potash, and other pro ...
(50%), Mitsui Mining (20%), Tokyo Boeki (20%), and other smaller firms, and began blasting at the Quintette mine in October 1982. The Bullmoose Operating Corporation was formed by the Teck Corporation (51%), Lornex (39%), and Nissho Iwai (10%) and worked the smaller Bullmoose mine. The economic viability of the mining companies were in question since the world coal prices began falling in the early 1980s and the Japanese consortium requested reduced prices. After the Supreme Court ruled that the coal prices must be reduced, the QOC filed for court protection from its creditors allowing the Teck Corporation to take over management in 1992. By 1996, even as lay-offs continued, over half the town's labour force were employed at one of the two mines. New contracts with the Japanese consortium, signed 1997, moved production to the lower cost Bullmoose mine but guaranteed production until 2003 when that mine was expected to be exhausted. The Quintette mine was closed altogether on August 31, 2000. Since then, three other coal mines opened but were unprofitable:
Walter Energy Walter Energy, Inc. was a publicly traded "pure play" metallurgical coal producer for the global steel industry. The company also produced natural gas, steam coal and industrial coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke, and coal bed methane gas. ...
's Willow Creek, Brule and Wolverine mines. HD Mining International pursued opening another coal mine, the Murray River project, but encountered labour challenges. While there was an intent by the town's planners to move to a more diversified economy, the few initiatives in this direction were not supported by the industries or local decision-makers. Uncertainty about the town's future had been a serious concern to residents since the 1984 price reduction demands, but it was not until the closure of the Quintette mine that the town pursued diversification initiatives, such as tourism (attractions from dinosaur fossil discoveries, outdoor recreation, and nearby provincial parks), forestry, and oil and gas exploration.


Culture, recreation and media

After dinosaur trackways were discovered in 2000, and bones in 2002, the Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation began excavations and opened the Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre. Fossils and bones are displayed at both locations. Tours and educational programs related to dinosaur, the trackways, and the wilderness are offered. In Fall 2014 Tumbler Ridge was designated a full member of UNESCO's Global Geopark Network. Comprising 7,822 km2, the geopark highlights the geological heritage of the area such as Cretaceous dinosaur tracks and bone bed and fossils of Triassic fishes and marine reptiles. Tumbler Ridge's location among the Rocky Mountains has allowed for the development of numerous trail systems for motorized and non-motorized recreation. The trails and open areas span numerous mountains. Kinuseo Falls along the Murray River in the Monkman Provincial Park is the most popular destination for visitors to Tumbler Ridge. Two other provincial parks are just outside the municipal boundaries: Bearhole Lake Provincial Park and
Gwillim Lake Provincial Park Gwillim Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the A ...
. Annual events held in Tumbler Ridge include the Grizfest Music Festival and the Emperor's Challenge. The Emperor's Challenge is a 21 km (13 mi)
half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...
up Roman Mountain that has been held in August since 1998. The Grizfest Music Festival (formerly Grizzly Valley Days) is a two-day event held on the August or September long weekend that includes a concert, parade, displays and other community-wide events. Tumbler Ridge has one newspaper published in the community, the locally owned and operated ''Tumbler Ridgelines'.'' It started after the publisher of the ''Tumbler Ridge News'' (formerly ''Community Connections'') died in 2017. The ''Tumbler Ridge Observer'' formerly covered the town and was published by the ''Peace River Block Daily News'' in Dawson Creek. No radio station, or television station broadcasts from the town but there are local repeaters for stations from larger centres.


Government and politics

The District of Tumbler Ridge's council-manager form of municipal government is headed by a mayor (who also represents Tumbler Ridge on the
Peace River Regional District The Peace River Regional District is a regional district in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The regional district comprises seven municipalities and four electoral areas. Its member municipalities are the cities of Fort St. John and Daws ...
's governing board) and a six-member council; these positions are subject to at-large elections every four years. Keith Bertrand was elected mayor on October 21, 2018, succeeding one-term mayors Don McPherson (2014-2018), Darwin Wren (2011-2014) and Larry White (2008-2011), who had all succeeded long-time mayor Mike Caisley. Residents of the District also elect one school trustee to School District 59. For representation in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Tumbler Ridge is part of the
Peace River South Peace River South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created under the name South Peace River by the ''Constitution Amendment Act, 1955'', which split the old riding of Peace R ...
electoral district which has been represented by
Mike Bernier Mike Bernier (born 1968) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election. He represents the electoral district of Peace River South as a member of the British Columbia ...
of the
BC Liberal Party The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia general ...
since 2013. Prior to Bernier, the riding was represented by
Blair Lekstrom Blair Lekstrom (born 1961) is a Canadian politician, formerly a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He represented the riding of Peace River South having been first elected in the 2001 election. Re-elected in 2005 and 2009, h ...
who was elected in the 2001 provincial election, with 72% support from the town's polls and re-elected in 2005 with 64%Elections BC (2005). and in 2009 with 70% support.Elections BC (2009). Before Lekstrom, Peace River South was represented by Jack Weisgerber as a member of the
Social Credit Party of British Columbia The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing provincial political party of British Columbia, Canada, for all but three years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election. For f ...
(1986–1994) and
Reform Party of British Columbia The Reform Party of British Columbia (Reform BC) is an unregistered right-wing populist political party in British Columbia, Canada. Although its name is similar to the defunct Reform Party of Canada, the provincial party was founded before the ...
(1994–2001). In 1996, as leader of the Reform Party, Weisgerber won re-election despite the Tumbler Ridge polls placing him second to the New Democratic Party candidate. Federally, Tumbler Ridge is in the
Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies (previously Prince George—Peace River) is a federal electoral district in northern British Columbia, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography It c ...
riding, represented in the House of Commons of Canada by Conservative Party
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
Bob Zimmer. Before Zimmer, who was elected in May 2011, the riding was represented by Jay Hill since
1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
. The riding was represented by Frank Oberle of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1972 to 1993. Oberle served as Canada's Minister of Science and Technology in 1985 and Minister of Forestry in 1989.


Notes


References


External links

* {{authority control District municipalities in British Columbia Populated places in the Peace River Regional District Coal mining regions in Canada Mining communities in British Columbia 1981 establishments in British Columbia Populated places established in 1981