Where It All Began
Lana Wilhelm began her career in forestry in the late 1990s while studying at university in Vancouver. She spent her summers as a tree planter in British Columbia, which eventually brought her to Haida Gwaii, where she worked with several First Nations contractors. Her experience alongside First Nations communities encouraged her to pursue a professional forestry education at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George. After graduating in the early 2000s, she returned to Haida Gwaii and worked for the Council of the Haida Nation as a land-use coordinator and head forester. From the beginning, her forestry career has been closely connected to her work with First Nations. As a tree planter, she began questioning how forests were being managed and if there was a better approach. Working with First Nations broadened her perspective. She learned to combine Western science with Indigenous knowledge and cultural values. This experience shaped Lana’s belief in managing forests for multiple values, rather than focusing only on the production of forest products.
Building a New Role at Domtar
Lana joined Legacy Paper Excellence in 2019 with the opportunity to create the company’s Indigenous relations role from the ground up. She saw it as a unique opportunity to build a program that connected corporate leadership with the communities where the company operates. Her role continues to focus on developing consistent approaches to Indigenous relations across the company’s operations. Her work includes building relationships with Indigenous communities, supporting best practices in procurement and community investment, and creating more opportunities for employees to learn more about the communities where they work and what reconciliation means.
Finding Common Ground
For Lana, one of the most rewarding parts of her role is finding solutions that support both Domtar and Indigenous communities. She values the opportunity to find common ground and build relationships based on shared goals. She also enjoys bringing Domtar employees and leaders into communities. Her most meaningful career experiences have come from working closely with Indigenous communities. She highlights that her early career work with the Coastal First Nations and the Haida Nation was very meaningful. She says, “I was able to learn just as much as I was able to create.” Recently, she found it especially rewarding to collaborate with the Bears’ Lair Dream camp for youth, in a couple nations where Domtar operates. During these camps, kids build business plans from scratch and present their business ideas in front of their communities. One of the most valuable aspects of her work is watching “aha” moments take place when Domtar employees learn things around the history of colonialism and the impacts of industrialization.
Changing the Narrative
Lana believes one of the biggest misconceptions in the forestry sector is that working with Indigenous communities is a barrier to business. She sees it as an opportunity to build stronger relationships and better outcomes. She believes that involving Indigenous communities early in projects can benefit everyone. For Lana, successful relationships are built through transparency, accountability and a willingness to work together. She also believes Indigenous relations should not be viewed as something limited to a certain region or only as a Canadian issue. Indigenous relations represent a global opportunity for the forestry sector.
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