WHEREAS the province of British Columbia has a growing quantity of marine and terrestrial vertebrate paleontological remains; AND WHEREAS there is no proper facility to house, display or provide research opportunities for this material in British Columbia: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities lobby the Province of British Columbia for a facility to preserve, protect, study and display our valuable paleontological resource.
Ministry of Agriculture Lands The Royal BC Museum RBCM is the official repository for fossils in British Columbia. There are several other significant fossil collections in the province, such as those in the Courtenay and District Museum, the Peace River Palaeontology Research Centre in Tumbler Ridge, and Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. A broader discussion about capacity and needs of current facilities as well as the requirements for collecting, storing and managing existing and new specimens needs to take place before the approval for a new facility is considered. The discussion should involve the Provincial Government, the RBCM and the paleontological community, in an effort to identify the provincial standards for the preservation, protection and management of this resource.