Robert Dennis Sr.

Shannon Janzen

In communities up and down the coast, hard-working forestry families are worried about the rising cost of living and whether they will still have their jobs by the end of the year. In 2023, an estimated 4,000 coastal forestry-dependent workers lost their jobs. Today, more than 44,200 people living in coastal communities rely on an unstable forest sector for their livelihoods. Why is this happening? Because we have been focusing on the wrong priorities and failing to attract investment in domestic manufacturing of second-growth forests. …Hundreds of millions of dollars are needed to retool and restructure sawmills and pulp mills for global competitiveness and to cost-effectively transition from old-growth to second-growth forests. …Coastal forestry has a long-standing negative reputation for investment, stemming from many factors including environmental opposition and regulatory uncertainty. …The Iskum Nations are eager to invest in the full supply chain of coastal forestry, but to do so there must be a shared vision for change.