First Nations Partnership

People first, in plain terms

Seaton Forest Products was established in 2016 on traditional territory in the Bulkley Valley. About twenty-five people work this one yard, and roughly three out of four of them are First Nations. The work is steady and the jobs stay local: wages go to the communities on Highway 16, not out of the region. We mill dry balsam, the salvaged and fire-damaged timber that larger mills pass over, and we run at a hundred percent wood utilization. None of that is a marketing programme. It is just how the mill works and who does the work.

We do not treat this as a marketing line. It is the make-up of our crew and the reason the mill matters to the people who live here.

Employment rooted in the Bulkley Valley

The mill sits on Highway 16 between Witset and Hazelton, two communities with strong First Nations ties. Most of our crew lives in those communities or nearby. Because the mill operates year-round and hauls steady volumes to a remanufacturing partner in Langley, the employment is not seasonal or intermittent. A crew of around twenty-five keeps one yard running and keeps the earnings local.

Why it matters to how we work

• Local jobs. Employment stays in the Bulkley Valley communities around the mill.
• Rooted operations. We work the land we are from, milling timber others leave behind.
• Full use of the resource. A hundred percent wood utilization, respecting the wood and the place it comes from.

Want to work with a community-rooted mill? Get in touch.