Our Story

Northwest BC's natural resources have been an essential part of our economies and communities for centuries. In the last century, our forests became the foundation for the majority of our jobs and provided a critical tax base for municipal governments to provide health and social services. This foundation, however, started to crumble at the turn of the century.

In the early 2000s, communities and people from within the region began to understand that an economic model focussed only on the production and export of commodities (for example, pulp and dimension lumber) didn't work. Communities, industry and government needed to work together to find a new model that extracted the fullest value from our natural resources while maintaining our quality of life.

Passionate local citizens recognized the need for a regional body to help find new and innovative uses and markets for the Skeena-Nass' forest products. And in January 2009, SNCIRE was born. The non-profit was to be a catalyst in the transformational change of forest-dependent communities in Northwest BC.

As membership in SNCIRE grew to include individuals, social service agencies, companies, and local governments, so did the realisation of the inextricable linkage between our economic, physical, and cultural environments, and businesses, industries, sectors and communities. As a result, SNCIRE's mandate expanded to include all natural resources.

Today, our membership ranges across many sectors and is as diverse as our projects.