TERRACE, BC — The Kitsumkalum First Nation has purchased Skeena Sawmills, the Skeena Bioenergy pellet plant and all relevant assets in a complex sales agreement set out in an April 16 B.C. Supreme Court order. The $14.05 million purchase, effective April 30, ends an extended period of uncertainty over who would own the entities that were placed in receivership in September 2023. …In making his determination, Justice Paul Walker of the B.C. Supreme Court found that the sales agreement between the Kitsumkalum First Nation and court-appointed receiver Alvarez and Marsal “is commercially reasonable.” Kitsumkalum chief councillor Don Roberts said Kitsumkalum will manage the forest tenures that are part of the purchase package as an ecological whole and manage the tenures beyond logging for their timber value. …The Kitsumkalum revised offer also addressed long-term contracts between Skeena Sawmills and two logging companies. …Projected re-opening dates for the sawmill and pellet plant have yet to be set.

Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests, has released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s redetermination of its anti-dumping decision following October 2023 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) panel ruling: “I am deeply disappointed with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s redetermination in response to the finding from the NAFTA panel that they had erred. We will continue to stand firm against unfair actions taken against our forestry workers. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its redetermination in response to the NAFTA panel. I am disappointed with the Department of Commerce’s reissued decision. The only correct outcome would see a reversal of their original decision. Instead, the Department of Commerce has chosen to make minor adjustments that fail to address the NAFTA panel’s instructions. We continue to work … relentlessly pursue our claims… Rest assured that we will do everything we can to seek a better outcome for our softwood lumber exporters.”