Raised in the Queen Charlotte Islands or Haida Gwaii, Alana Husby originates from a family with strong roots in the British Columbian logging industry dating back to the 1800s. As a young girl, she was adopted into the Haida Nation as an honorary member of the Raven Clan. Having developed a passion for timber and the natural environment in her childhood home, it was Alana’s father that encouraged her to pursue a career in forestry and gain vital experience with each facet of the logging and sawmilling process.

As she furthered her education and expertise in the field, she was inspired by the beauty and potential of wood that is traditionally left behind. Whilst exploring her commitment to eco concerns, she resolved to create a logging business that has been unlike any other. It has since been this creative vision that has formed the basis of Alana’s growing enterprise, which centers around a philosophy of recognizing the value and beauty in wood that is ‘Reclaimed. Rescued. Rediscovered.’

Drawing inspiration from her surroundings, Alana, a British Columbia Institute of Technology Certified Forest Technician, began offering hand-selected, rare and unique timber that had been successfully rescued, dried and cut though sustainable recovery practices through CoastEcoTimber. In addition to her education, Alana also has gained log experience in harvesting techniques, log grading, and sorting and sawmill expertise including custom cutting, lumber grading, lumber sorting, and sawmill flow and production.

Alana has been nominated for the Minerva Foundation’s Woman of the Year in Natural Resources award and Royal Bank of Canada’s Canadian Woman of the year Entrepreneur. She also sits on the Forestry Advisory Council at the University of British Columbia as well as the board for the Shawnigan Lake School First Nations Scholarship, “Into the Light”.

Now at just 36 years old, Alana and the Coast EcoTimber team are undertaking the most challenging and unusual project yet, running a sawmill and delving deep to recover timber that has lay preserved in the underwater jungles of the Panama Canal for a century to provide our customers with this spectacular FSC® certified wood.

We’re all very excited to see what’s next?!