Business View Magazine | April 2020

282 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE APRIL 2020 in 2014. The TRUGG highlights some of the geological significance of the area and has positively impacted tourism for the entire region. Also famous for important paleontological discoveries, Tumbler Ridge is home to an impressive Dinosaur museum and several hiking trails with real dinosaur footprints that immerse visitors in the surreal, natural experience. Brad Sperling, Chair of the PRRD Board, elaborates, “Fort St. John has a population over 20,000; Dawson is 15,000 so there are plenty of hotels. And Tumbler Ridge and all the smaller communities have good facilities, including provincial and local camps. Tourism is something that the Regional District and its member communities work very hard on. And, of course, we have the world-famous Alaska Highway which starts at Dawson – mile zero. So, we still get a lot of American tourists coming up, but we’re starting to see more Canadian tourists, as well. It’s almost a staycation. The scenery and the country up here is fantastic.” But as busy as the tourism sector is, it isn’t a major economic driver for the region. Those are agriculture, forestry, and the oil and gas industry. On the energy front, The Coastal Gaslink project will begin with one compressor station at Wilde Lake in Groundbirch, B.C., to the LNG Canada Facility in Kitimat. The workload is split into eight sections – of which, sections one and two fall in the Peace Region. According to Sperling, “We are more or less at the center of the LNG; it’s another four or five years off before it’s completed to the coast. We’ve got good growth right now, slow but steady. So that gives us time to look at infrastructure, facilities, and, basically, build and prepare for it in a good steady manner.” The average population age in the Peace River Regional District is 35 years old and keeping those young people is a challenge at times because of competition from larger centers that may have more or better infrastructure. But the abundant employment and community