herds, making it a landmark and obstacle in one of the world's largest animal migrations. It is also home to brown bears and, nearer the Arctic coast, polar bears. The Colville River has been called "hawk heaven" for its incredible concentration of peregrine falcons, gyrfalcons, and golden eagles. The steep, loose bluffs of the Colville River provide prime nesting habitat for many birds. Paleontology In 1961, Shell Oil geologist Robert Liscolm discovered dinosaur fossils at multiple locations while surveying the Colville River. However, his discoveries were met with incredulity and suspicion in the paleontology community due to the site's extreme northern location, and Liscolm died the following year in a rock slide while continuing his surveying of the Colville. In the mid- to late-1980s, Liscolm's notes were rediscovered and paleontologists returned to Liscolm's sites only to find many more dinosaur fossils and tracks. Today, the Colville River bluffs are widely recognized as one of the fossil-rich regions in the Arctic, with enormous quantities of Cretaceous dinosaur fossils. Specimens collected on the Colville include theropods, ankylosaurs, albertosaurs, pachyrhinosaurus, gorgosaurus, and hadrosaurs. Fossils, which are legally described as any sign or remnant of ancient life, may only be collected from public lands with a government-issued permit. Illegally removing fossils from the Colville River, or other public lands, can expose a violator to steep fines or jail time. Human activity In a region with virtually no roads, the Colville River serves as one of the transportation arteries in the Alaska arctic. In the summer, small motorboats transport indigenous subsistence hunters, paleontologists, geologists, and others working or hunting in the region. When the river freezes to a suitable thickness during winter, it can be used as an ice road to bring in supplies, as seen during the fourth season of the History Channel series Ice Road Truckers. A very small number of recreational boaters float the Colville annually, though the extreme remoteness, harsh conditions, relative lack of air transportation hubs, and presence of polar bears make recreational boating challenging. See also List of rivers of Alaska References External links Louisiana Digital Libraries: Colville River, Alaska Alaska DOT: Colville River Bridge USGS Anadromous Fish on Alaska Beaufourt Sea Coast Rivers of North Slope Borough, Alaska Rivers of Alaska Brooks Range