Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia
Encyclopedia
The District Municipality of Tumbler Ridge is a small town in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
in northeastern British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada, and a member municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
of the Peace River Regional District. The municipality of 1574 square kilometres (607.7 sq mi), with its population of 2,454 people, incorporates a townsite and a large area of mostly Crown Land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
. The housing and municipal infrastructure, along with regional infrastructure connecting the new town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
to other municipalities, were built simultaneously in 1981 by the provincial government to service the coal industry
Coal in Canada
Reserves of coal in Canada rank fifth largest in the world at approximately 10 billion tonnes, 4% of the world total. This represents more energy than all of the oil and gas in the country combined. The coal industry generates CDN$5 billion annually...
as part of the British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation
British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation
The British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, or BCRIC 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 bailed out by the government...
'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.
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 Elliot Lake, it later diversified into coal, potash, and other projects....
and the Teck Corporation
Teck Cominco
Teck Resources Limited known as Teck Cominco until late 2008, is a Canadian mining company. It was formed from the amalgamation of Teck and Cominco in 2001.-History:...
, who were to operate the Quintette mine and the Bullmoose mine respectively. Declining global coal prices after 1981, and weakening Asian markets
East Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of Asia beginning in July 1997, and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion....
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. Since 2000 rising coal prices have led to the opening of new mines in and near the municipality by Northern Energy & Mining Inc. (now majority-owned by Anglo American Met Coal) and Western Canadian Coal (now Walter Energy).
After dinosaur footprints, fossils, and bones were discovered in the municipality, along with fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s of Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
fishes and cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
plants, the Peace Region Paleontology Research Centre opened in 2003. The research centre and a dinosaur museum were funded in part by the federal Western Economic Diversification Canada
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Western Economic Diversification Canada is a Canadian federal department that works towards building strong, competitive and innovative businesses and communities in Western Canada...
to decrease economic dependence on the coal industry. Economic diversification has also occurred with oil and gas exploration, forestry, and recreational tourism. Nearby recreational destinations include numerous trails, mountains, waterfalls, snowmobiling areas and provincial parks, such as Monkman Provincial Park
Monkman Provincial Park
Monkman Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada south of the communities of Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd, British Columbia and northeast of Prince George.-History:...
, Bearhole Lake Provincial Park
Bearhole Lake Provincial Park and Protected Area
Bearhole Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located 5 km east of the mining community of Tumbler Ridge, on the Alberta Plateau. Established in January 2001, the park includes 17,762 ha of land in the Boreal White and Black Spruce biogeoclimatic zones within...
, and Gwillim Lake Provincial Park
Gwillim Lake Provincial Park
-External links:*...
.
History
Archaeological evidence show a human presence dating back 3,000 years. The nomadic SekaniSekani
Sekani is the name of an Athabaskan First Nations people in the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Their territory includes the Finlay and Parsnip River drainages of the Rocky Mountain Trench. The neighbors of the Sekani are the Babine to the west, Dakelh to the south, Dunneza to the east, and...
, followed by the Dunneza
Dunneza
The Dane-zaa are a First Nation of the large Athapaskan language group; their traditional territory is around the Peace River of the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada...
and then the Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
, 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
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
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
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
near the deposits, two highways off Highway 97, a power line from the W. A. C. Bennett Dam
W. A. C. Bennett Dam
The W. A. C. Bennett Dam is a large hydroelectric earthfill dam on the Peace River in northern British Columbia, Canada. The dam, located 19 kilometres west of Hudson's Hope, and 85 kilometres northwest of Chetwynd, is named after the late former premier W. A. C. Bennett, and came on-line in 1968...
at Hudson's Hope
Hudson's Hope, British Columbia
Hudson's Hope is a district municipality in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, in the Peace River Regional District. It covers an area of with a population of 1,157 people. Having been first settled in 1805, it is the third oldest community in the province, although it was not incorporated...
, and a branch rail line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur 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. Coordinated through the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs the town, regional infrastructure, and mining plants were all built simultaneously. When the municipality was incorporated in April 1981 the area was completely forested. During that year building sites and roadways were cleared and in the winter the water and sewerage system was built. In 1982, houses and other buildings were constructed. Full production at the mines was reached the following year.
In early 1983, the families of the managers at the Bullmoose Minesite, led by Dean Sawas appealed to the British Columbia government and were able to create a new settlement, called Bullmoose Settlement. This was done because Dean's wife was expecting and he wanted his child to have something different to say about her birthplace. He wanted her to be able to say that a settlement had been created for her and that she was, and would always be the only one born at that place. At her birth, Alicia V. Sawas was also written into the Tumbler Ridge records as the first child born in the Quintette area. Bullmoose Settlement was closed down after the reduction in mine activities with just the one birth.
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
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 that an independent assessment agency be created.Its...
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. This lowered their taxes as they tried to enforce the purchasing agreement at the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
. 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. 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 town 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
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
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.
Since the Bullmoose mine exhausted its supply of coal in 2003, world coal prices have increased making exploration and mining in Tumbler Ridge economically feasible again. Western Canadian Coal opened new open-pit mining operations creating the Dillon mine using Bullmoose mining infrastructure, the Brule mine using new infrastructure (projected 11-year life span), and the Wolverine mine. Despite the number of projects, population has been slow to return to the town.
Demographics
| Canada 2006 Census Canada 2006 Census The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897... |
||
| Tumbler Ridge | British Columbia | |
| Median age | 42.2 years | 40.8 years |
| Under 15 years old | 18% | 17% |
| Over 65 years old | 11% | 15% |
| Protestant (2001) | 43% | 31% |
| Catholic (2001) | 29% | 17% |
The Canada 2006 Census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
reported 2,454 residents living in 1,045 households and 765 families. This was 27% more people than the previous census five years earlier when the town was at its lowest population level since opening. The median age increased from 38.8 years in 2001 to 42.2 in 2006, as the proportion of the population aged over 65 rose from 5% to 11%. In 2006, of those over 15 years of age, 62% were married, higher than the 54% provincial average. The town has few visible minorities as 94% of Tumbler Ridge residents were Canadian-born and 93% had English as their first language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
. 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.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
municipal detachment reported 346 Criminal Code of Canada
Criminal Code of Canada
The Criminal Code or Code criminel is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is "An Act respecting the criminal law"...
offenses. This translated into a crime rate of 137 Criminal Code offenses per 1,000 people, higher than the provincial average of 119 offenses. During that year, the RCMP reported lower crime rates in Tumbler Ridge, compared with the provincial averages, in all categories except bicycle thefts, property damage, impaired driving, and cannabis-related offenses. Until 2005, the town had a lower crime rate than the province, except between 2001–2003 after the Quintette mine closure and a large out-migration from the town. In 2004 the Tumbler Ridge RCMP reported no robbery or shoplifting offenses, and only 4.5 theft-from-motor-vehicle offenses per 1,000 people compared with 20 provincially.
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. The rocks, mostly shaleShale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
and mudstone
Mudstone
Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...
but lacking quartzite, make the mountains less rugged than their neighbouring ranges. The terraces grow Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
, White Spruce, Trembling Aspen
Populus tremuloides
Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, and Quakies,. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 metres, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden...
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
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
approached the town.
Major coal deposits indicate the site was a swampy forest during the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. Paleontologists have discovered tracks or fossils from ankylosauria
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. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs. They are first known to have appeared in the early Jurassic Period of...
, ornithopod
Ornithopod
Ornithopods or members of the clade Ornithopoda are a group of ornithischian dinosaurs 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 world, and dominated the North American...
s (including a Hadrosaurus
Hadrosaurus
Hadrosaurus is a valid genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur. In 1858, a skeleton of a dinosaur from this genus was the first dinosaur skeleton known from more than isolated teeth to be found in North America. In 1868, it became the first ever mounted dinosaur skeleton...
), and theropods. Fossils of Cretaceous plants such as ferns, redwoods, cycads, and ginkgo
Ginkgo
Ginkgo , also spelled gingko and known as the Maidenhair Tree, is a unique species of tree with no close living relatives...
, and Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
fishes and reptiles such as coelacanth
Coelacanth
Coelacanths are members of an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of Sarcopterygii known to date....
, weigeltisaurus
Weigeltisaurus
Weigeltisaurus was a genus of avicephalan reptile that lived in Madagascar about 280 million years ago, during the Permian Period. It had "wings" consisting of ribs protruding from its body and being joined by skin, allowing it to glide. This lizard-like reptile possibly had a very small frill at...
, and ichthyosaur
Ichthyosaur
Ichthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins...
have been recovered.
The town experiences a continental climate. Arctic air masses move predominantly southwestly from the Mackenzie Valley towards the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and through the mountains north of town. The town is in a rain shadow
Rain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...
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.
| Weather | ||
| Time | Average temperature | Average precipitation |
| January | −11.1 °C (12.0 °F) | 40.2 mm (1.6 in) |
| July | 14.8 °C (58.6 °F) | 78.6 mm (3.1 in) |
| Average annual precipitation : 519 mm (20.4 in) | ||
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. 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
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
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
Tumbler Ridge Airport
Tumbler Ridge Airport, , is located south of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada....
, 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) electrified branch line
Railway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
through the Rocky Mountains constructed by BC Rail to transport coal to the Ridley Terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert. The branch line includes two tunnels: the 9 km (6 mi) Table Tunnel and the 6 km (4 mi) Wolverine Tunnel.
The town funds its own 21-member volunteer fire department, water treatment system, and sewage disposal system. Drinking water
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
is drawn from two springs south of the townsite where it is stored in a 7 million litre reservoir before being chlorinated
Chlorination
Chlorination is the process of adding the element chlorine to water as a method of water purification to make it fit for human consumption as drinking water...
and pumped into town. The storm sewers empty into the Murray River, but the sanitary sewage
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
is processed through a lagoon
Aerated lagoon
An aerated lagoon or aerated basin is a holding and/or treatment pond provided with artificial aeration to promote the biological oxidation of wastewaters. There are many other biological processes for treatment of wastewaters, for example activated sludge, trickling filters, rotating biological...
system and released into the Murray River north of town. Both the town and the province, through the Northern Health Authority
Northern Health
Northern Health is the publicly-funded healthcare provider for a the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The area region includes the communities of:* Atlin* Burns Lake* Chetwynd* Dawson Creek* Fort Nelson* Fort St. James* Fort St...
, 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
School District 59 Peace River South
School District 59 Peace River South is a school district in northeastern British Columbia near the Alberta border. Centered in Dawson Creek, it includes the communities of Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge, and Pouce Coupe.-Schools:...
. Post-secondary courses, programs, and industry training are offered by Northern Lights College
Northern Lights College
Northern Lights College is an institution that provides post-secondary education to residents of Northern British Columbia. It currently has offices in eight communities, and a working agreement with the University of Northern British Columbia. The college president is D. Jean Valgardson.- List of...
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 MinesDenison 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 Elliot Lake, it later diversified into coal, potash, and other projects....
(50%), Mitsui Mining
Mitsui
is one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture...
(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
Teck Cominco
Teck Resources Limited known as Teck Cominco until late 2008, is a Canadian mining company. It was formed from the amalgamation of Teck and Cominco in 2001.-History:...
(51%), Lornex (39%), 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.
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 seriously investigate a diversification. Since then employment has been generated in tourism (attractions from dinosaur fossil discoveries, outdoor recreation, and nearby provincial parks), forestry, and oil and gas exploration. Although, increasing world energy prices have brought mining back to Tumbler Ridge. In 2003 Western Canadian Coal opened the Dillon mine using the infrastructure from the Bullmoose mine and is constructing new infrastructure for the larger Brule mine. The company has also opened the Wolverine and Hermann mines between the former Bullmoose and Quintette plants.
Culture, recreation and media
After dinosaur trackwayTrackway
A trackway is an ancient route of travel for people or animals. In biology, a trackway can be a set of impressions in the soft earth, usually a set of footprints, left by an animal. A fossil trackway is the fossilized imprint of a trackway. Trackways have been found all over the world...
s 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.
Kinuseo Falls
Kinuseo Falls is a waterfall on the Murray River, which flows through the northern tip of Monkman Provincial Park in the Northern Rockies of British Columbia, Canada...
along the Murray River in the Monkman Provincial Park
Monkman Provincial Park
Monkman Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada south of the communities of Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd, British Columbia and northeast of Prince George.-History:...
is the most popular destination for visitors to Tumbler Ridge. Two other provincial parks are just outside the municipal boundaries: Bearhole Lake Provincial Park
Bearhole Lake Provincial Park and Protected Area
Bearhole Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located 5 km east of the mining community of Tumbler Ridge, on the Alberta Plateau. Established in January 2001, the park includes 17,762 ha of land in the Boreal White and Black Spruce biogeoclimatic zones within...
and Gwillim Lake Provincial Park
Gwillim Lake Provincial Park
-External links:*...
.
Annual events held in Tumbler Ridge include the Grizfest Music Festival, Emperor's Challenge – promoted as the most beautiful and most challenging half-marathon in the world – and the Ridge Ramble Cross-Country Ski Race. The Grizfest Music Festival (formerly Grizzly Valley Days) is a two-day concert held on the August long weekend, and includes a parade, dance, art show, and other community-wide events. The Emperor’s Challenge, also in August, is a 21 km (13 mi) marathon
Half marathon
A half marathon is a road running event of . It is half the distance of a marathon and usually run on roads. Participation in half marathons has grown steadily recently. One of the main reasons for this is that it is a challenging distance, but does not require the same level of training that a...
up Roman Mountain.
Tumbler Ridge has one newspaper published in the community, the locally owned and operated Tumbler Ridge News (formerly Community Connections). The Tumbler Ridge Observer formerly covered the town and was published by the Peace River Block Daily News in Dawson Creek. The Ridge Blog is a new (as of October 2011) online news source. One newsletter, Coffee Talk, based out of Chetwynd, is circulated in the town. No radio station, or television station broadcasts from the town.
Government and politics
Plurality-at-large voting
Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...
elections every three years. Darwin Wren was elected mayor on November 19, 2011, and will succeed Larry White when sworn in in December. In 2011, Sherry Berringer was acclaimed as school board
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
trustee for the second time, sitting on the board of School District 59
School District 59 Peace River South
School District 59 Peace River South is a school district in northeastern British Columbia near the Alberta border. Centered in Dawson Creek, it includes the communities of Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge, and Pouce Coupe.-Schools:...
. The city funds a volunteer fire department headed by full-time fire chief Matt Treit.
Tumbler Ridge is part of the Peace River South
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 River into northern and southern portions for the 1956 B.C....
provincial electoral district, represented by Blair Lekstrom
Blair Lekstrom
Blair Lekstrom is a Canadian politician, currently a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He has represented the riding of Peace River South since the 2001 election....
in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....
. In the 2001 provincial election
British Columbia general election, 2001
The British Columbia general election of 2001 was the 37th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 18, 2001, and held on May 16, 2001...
, he was elected as the district's Member of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
with 72% support from the town's polls and re-elected in 2005
British Columbia general election, 2005
The 38th British Columbia general election was held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia , Canada. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...
with 64% and in 2009 with 70% support. Before Lekstrom, Peace River South was represented by Jack Weisgerber
Jack Weisgerber
John Sylvester Weisgerber is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is a former member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia. During his political career he was briefly the leader of both the British Columbia Social Credit Party and the Reform Party of British Columbia...
as a member of the Social Credit Party of British Columbia (1986–1994) and Reform Party of British Columbia
Reform Party of British Columbia
The Reform Party of British Columbia is a populist right wing 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 federal party was and it did not have any formal association with...
(1994–2001). In 1996
British Columbia general election, 1996
The British Columbia general election of 1996 was the thirty sixth provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996...
, as leader of the Reform Party
Reform Party of British Columbia
The Reform Party of British Columbia is a populist right wing 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 federal party was and it did not have any formal association with...
, Weisgerber won re-election despite the Tumbler Ridge polls placing him second to the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party of British Columbia
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...
candidate.
Federally, Tumbler Ridge is in the Prince George—Peace River
Prince George—Peace River
Prince George—Peace River is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968.-Geography:...
riding, represented in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
by Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Bob Zimmer. Before Zimmer, who was elected in May 2011, the riding was represented by Jay Hill
Jay Hill
Jay D. Hill PC is a former Canadian politician and member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He was the Member of Parliament for the riding of Prince George—Peace River from 1993 until his retirement in 2010. He also served as Government House Leader in the Canadian House of Commons during his...
since 1993
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
. The riding was represented by Frank Oberle
Frank Oberle, Sr.
Frank Oberle, Sr., PC is a businessman and former Canadian politician.Born in Forchheim near Karlsruhe, Germany, Oberle moved with his family to German-occupied Poland in 1941. There he was placed in a Hitler Youth indoctrination program...
of the Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
from 1972 to 1993. Oberle served as Canada's Minister of Science and Technology in 1985 and Minister of Forestry in 1989.