Getting to know SkeenaWild’s Executive Director.

For Greg Knox, the Skeena country’s free flowing salmon rivers and uplands studded with grizzlies were a shot of adrenaline when he arrived 20 years ago.

“It literally made my heart skip a beat,” Knox said.

He joined the Nisga’a Nation as a fisheries biologist in the region, then guided wildlife tours. He took on the role of executive director at SkeenaWild in 2007. The organization feeds on a fierce attachment to this place—some newly formed, some passed down through generations of First Nations people.

“Even though we are astronomically over-matched in terms of money and political influence, we have something more powerful,” Knox said. “People still have strong connections to salmon, and if proposed development threatens their fish they are willing to stand up and fight.”