Tumbler Ridge adventure: discover the secrets of the #dinotrail this summer

50 hiking trails and more ATV, snowmobile and mountain bike trails.

Caves, waterfalls, dinosaurs, and mountain tops. If adventure and discovery has a name – it’s Tumbler Ridge.

The Tumbler Ridge Museum is open until August 31 from 9 to 5pm – and Thursday through Monday from 9 to 5pm after August 31. Call 250-242-DINO or check wwwtrmf.ca for more information. Find them on Facebook and Instagram as well.

Discover the Dino Trail this summer, join ZenSeekers as we travel across Northern Alberta and Northern BC to link together paleontology experiences.

Rob Brown Managing Editor

Walk in the footsteps of giants – joining an evening lantern tour to illuminate both your understanding of history of the planet – when real dinosaurs ruled the Peace.

This summer you can sign up to join Tumbler Ridge summer student Shelby Nickerson and others for two-hour excursion adventures through the footprints and fossil deposits of the Wolverine River and Flatbed Creek area.

“There are many prints here –between 97 and 99 million years old,” says Nickerson brushing away sediment from a skin formation impression between footprints.

The lantern tour quite literally shines a different look at established area dino tracks and fossils – with the light and shadows making the impressions truly “pop” to the naked eye.

‘We are simply passing through history. This IS history.’

The story of Tumbler Ridge’s first dinosaur discovery perhaps as well-known as Spielberg’s Jurassic Park film from 30 year ago – and part of the history of the area as much as the giants who roamed the Peace before us. A pair of Tumbler youngsters - Mark

This anklyosaur trackway find has since ignited three decades of discovery in the area.

‘’An important artifact - it belongs in a museum.’

Speaking of discovery – the last 23 years of work is front and centre in the Dinosaur Discovery Gallery. Opened in 2007 – it is the only facility of its kind in British Columbia. Co-ordinated by the Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation, the organization collects, researches, organizes and displays more than 300 million years of history of the Peace region.

“It is an extensive collection. Some of it is on loan to the Royal Tyrell (Museum) in Alberta, some work is down in the BC Museum in Victoria – while some of their displays are here in Tumbler Ridge with us,” says Zena Conlin Executive Director with the Tumbler Ridge Museum and Dino Discovery Gallery.

Book a Dinosaur Day for the kids

Get the kids into the Lost World early – with a youth Dinosaur Day Camp for designed for children ages 8 to 13.

Tumbler Ridge is also home to the UNESCO Global Geopark – a scientific destination for everyone into the outdoors.

“Most UNESCO sites have either beautiful mountains, or majestic waterfalls, wildlife, great vegetation, or an intrinsic tie to the past with fossils, and more. Tumbler Ridge as all of them,” adds Nickerson.

Book two-hour lantern tours.

Find the illumination, information, and adventure you seek while stepping in the path of 100 million year old giants. The Geopark boasts more than

Start or end in Prince George –home to The Exploration Place, take this Trackway Tour in Tumbler Ridge, camp in Wembley Alberta to experience the Philip J. Currie Museum and go virtual in Grande Cache with their VR dinosaur track experience. We’ve made it easy for you to do it all, just visit https://www.zenseekers. com/campaign/dinotrail editor@dcdn.ca

photos by ZenSeekers/Cariboo Adventure Media

Dawson Creek welcomes new RCMP commander

Tom Summer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Staff Sgt. Rob Hughes is a new face to Dawson Creek, and is ready to support the community as the latest detachment commander.

Formally introducing himself to city council at their June 26 meeting, Hughes laid out his priorities for policing in Dawson Creek. Hughes replaces Staff Sgt. Damon Werell, who’s moved on to a new post, and served as the detachment commander in Mile Zero since 2018.

Hughes left depot in 2004 and said he’s enjoyed a long career in front-line policing, first in Richmond, followed by Langley, Surrey, Newton, and finally Princeton for the past four and a half years, where he was promoted to commander of the ten-person detachment.

“Had some struggles that we made leaps and bounds with, in the community,” said Hughes. “When I left there, the police relationship was, I think, as good as it could possibly be. So, we’re kind of hoping to do that again here.”

“Everything can always be better. That’s my goal coming here, is to draw on past experiences and past roles, and address the needs of the community and hopefully make some changes,” he added.

Auto theft a serious concern

Calls for service are slightly up this year at 3,497 versus 3,415 last year, said Hughes, not a drastic increase. However, auto theft remains a top concern for RCMP and residents in Dawson Creek, with 40 calls around this time last year, and 46 this year.

“This one of the things that we need to address here as the police, auto thefts are kind of out of control,” said Hughes, noting numbers typically spike whenever offenders are released from jail.

“While those people are in jail, we watch our numbers crash and go down. And when they get out, the numbers spike, of course,” said Hughes.

When asked by council if local RCMP have enough resources to keep an eye on re-offenders and those on parole, Hughes said resourcing is always a challenge for any detachment, with Dawson Creek’s caseload higher than the provincial average.

“We would always like to have more police officers, but that comes at the expense of the community. So, we have to try and find that balance, I haven’t had a chance to delve too deep into what that balance is, or how far we’re off that balance, or how close we are to it,” said Hughes.

Bail reform also hasn’t been to public satisfaction, admitted Hughes, but said the police do their best under the current legislation, working as a team with crown council and the judicial system.

“We do our job as best we can to supply the investigative packages to crown council, and then crown council makes their charge assessment, put charges forward, and then it’s

Chetwynd rollover claims one life

Over the weekend Chetwynd RCMP responded to a report of a single vehicle crash resulting in a death.

The rollover was on Highway 29 at Johnson Creek FSR in the community.

up to the judicial system to impose penalties or release conditions,” Hughes said.

A bait car to combat auto theft has been brought to Dawson Creek to be used by RCMP, with the previous bait car being sent to the Lower Mainland for repairs.

Hughes said he also wants to support groups like Citizens on Patrol (COP) and will be meeting with several organizations to see where the RCMP can help residentdriven initiatives, noting the rural crime watch groups are actively recruiting and always need new members.

Mental health calls are another priority for Hughes, who’s restarted monthly meetings with the local hospital to better address repeat clients being brought to the ER, where they are either turned away or leave due to long wait times.

Impaired driving has also been a concern since Hughes took his new post, and hopes to curb the 6.7 percent increase of immediate roadside prohibitions over last year.

“While I am impressed with our men and women that are out getting these files, and a lot of these are self-generated, the impaireds, it’s disturbing to see any impaired driving charges increasing,” he said, noting there’s an opportunity to raise public awareness over the issue.

Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative. Have a story idea or opinion? Email tsummer@ahnfsj.ca

“When police arrived, they found a pickup had rolled multiple times and the driver had been ejected and sadly was deceased at the scene,” said officials today in a statement.

The driver, an adult man, was the only occupant in the vehicle at the time of the collision and there were no other vehicles involved. BC Coroners Service are conducting a parallel investigation into the crash and no names are being released. editor@dcdn.ca

Treaty 8 Tribal Association is looking for a new logo

Creatives and more have all summer to come up with a new look for the Treaty 8 Tribal Association’s new logo.

Tribal Association reps are looking for an update of their existing logo .

Potential words for inspiration include; Unity, ‘Diversity among Treaty 8 Nations’, and “As long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow.” editor@dcdn.ca

All submissions can be sent to jpsc@treaty8.bc.ca by September 5.

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