Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia
| Tumbler Ridge | ||
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| District municipality | ||
| District of Tumbler Ridge | ||
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| Motto: "Invitatio Prosperitati" | ||
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| Coordinates: 55°06.7′N 120°58.2′W / 55.1117°N 120.9700°WCoordinates: 55°06.7′N 120°58.2′W / 55.1117°N 120.9700°W | ||
| Country | Canada | |
| Province | British Columbia | |
| Regional District | Peace River | |
| Incorporated | April 9, 1981 (district) | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Don Mcpherson | |
| • Governing body | Tumbler Ridge District Council | |
| • MP | Bob Zimmer | |
| • MLA | Mike Bernier | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 1,558.97 km2 (601.92 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 830 m (2,720 ft) | |
| Population (2011) | ||
| • Total | 2,710 | |
| • Density | 1.7/km2 (4.5/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | Mountain Time Zone (UTC-7) | |
| • Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC-7) | |
| Postal code span | V0C 2W0 | |
| Area code(s) | 250 / 778 / 236 | |
| Highways |
 BC 29 BC 52
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| Website | District of Tumbler Ridge | |
Tumbler Ridge is a district municipality in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Peace River Regional District. The municipality of 1,558 square kilometres (602 sq mi), with its population of 2,710 people, incorporates a townsite and a large area of mostly Crown Land. The housing and municipal infrastructure, along with regional infrastructure connecting the new town to other municipalities, were built simultaneously in 1981 by the provincial government to service the coal industry as part of the British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation'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 in 2010.
After dinosaur footprints, fossils, and bones were discovered in the municipality, along with fossils of Triassic fishes and cretaceous plants, the Peace Region Paleontology Research Center opened in 2003. The research centre and a dinosaur museum were funded in part by the federal Western Economic Diversification Canada to decrease economic dependence on the coal industry.
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