FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nak’azdli calls for resilient forests and local decision-making after Canfor pulp mill closure
Nak’azdli Whut’en Territory, Fort St. James — July 24, 2026 — Nak’azdli Chief and Council are saddened by Canfor’s recent decision to close its Northwood Pulp Mill in Prince George and stand with the workers and families affected by this news.
“Our thoughts are with the workers at Northwood and their families,” said Nak’azdli Whut’en Chief Colleen Erickson. “This is another difficult closure for the forestry community in BC, and it will not be the last unless we do the hard work of managing our forests differently.”
Closures like this one have been felt in rural communities across British Columbia frequently, for years now. BC’s forests are under real strain - from wildfire, the mountain pine beetle infestation, and decades of uncoordinated harvesting that has resulted in trees and jobs leaving the communities that depend on them. These are hard problems, and they will not be solved by more accommodation for multinationals. They will be solved by changing how decisions about our forests are made.
“Solutions to these problems do not come easily,” Chief Erickson continued. “The provincial government, Indigenous communities, and local governments must work together to manage our forests for the benefit of people today and for generations to come. That means adopting an area-based approach that would ensure forests are managed at the local level. Local fibre should go to local mills so that local communities benefit – not multinationals who take profits outside of the region while mills close, local businesses suffer, and jobs are lost. The forest sector will not survive unless communities are part of how decisions are made about our forests. Working together is the only way to protect forestry jobs and the healthy forests that sustain Nak'azdli's way of life and the rural communities that depend on them.”
In the near term, Nak’azdli is calling for support for the affected workers, and will work with its partners in the forest industry to determine the next steps for the region’s low-grade timber and chips.
M. Colleen Erickson,
Chief, Nak’azdli Whut’en