Mackenzie
The district of Mackenzie is located at the south end of Williston Lake in north-central BC, on the traditional territory of the McLeod Lake Indian Band, part of the Tse’Khene Nation. The current town was established in the late 1960’s but the history of European settlement goes back to the fur trading days, when the Hudson’s Bay company moved into the area in the 1820’s. In the 1960’s the construction of the W.A.C Bennett Dam lead to the Williston Reservoir being flooded and many Indigenous communities being tragically uprooted with no warning (to learn more by watching the following CBC documentary: https://gem.cbc.ca/dne-yiinjetl-the-scattering-of-man).
The timber supply area around Mackenzie is the fourth largest in BC, and the town has been home to sawmills, logging companies, log sort yards, wood product manufactures and a bioenergy plant. The forests in the area are mostly made up of lodgepole pine, sprice, subalpine fir and deciduous species that are managed through sustainable forest management practices.
About Forestry Friendly Communities BC
Forestry Friendly Communities was started in 2016 as a way to celebrate the proud history and rich future of BC’s coast forest sector. The term “Forestry Friendly” is intended to recognize pride in, and an ongoing commitment to BC’s forestry sector. In fact, the forest sector supports 1 in 16 jobs in BC. It also contributes $12.4 billion to the provincial GDP and injects $2.5 billion in taxes and fees to the three levels of government.
For more than a century, the forest sector has fueled our coastal economy and shaped our communities. Today, people and businesses across BC’s coastal region depend on transportation networks and other services developed for our forest sector. Families are able to earn a living while enjoying a unique West Coast lifestyle.
Forestry Friendly Communities is proudly brought to you by companies and associations working in forestry in coastal BC.