{"id":27762,"date":"2025-04-04T19:55:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T19:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/?p=27762"},"modified":"2025-04-04T19:55:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T19:55:35","slug":"welcome-greg-knox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/2025\/04\/04\/welcome-greg-knox\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Greg Knox"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wild Salmon Center\u2019s new British Columbia Director has a vision for scaling conservation work across the province.<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Wild Salmon Center British Columbia Director Greg Knox. (Photo courtesy SkeenaWild.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In late January 2025, Wild Salmon Center announced the hire of Greg Knox as our British Columbia Director<\/a><\/strong>: a new position within our international team of Pacific salmon policy and restoration experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the months since, Knox\u2014the long-serving Executive Director of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust\u2014has begun traveling the province, meeting with partners to hone his vision.  (He’s also been working with incoming SkeenaWild Executive Director Julia Hill Sorochan<\/a> to ensure a smooth transition.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knox officially joined Wild Salmon Center in March. The timing for this new, province-wide role is fortuitous, he says. The coming months and years will bring big, possibly unprecedented challenges to salmon and steelhead conservation in B.C.\u2014but also powerful opportunities<\/strong>. Key among the latter is the opportunity to build a shared base of power among conservation leaders across the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are important collaborations happening across the province to protect salmon and steelhead,\u201d Knox says. \u201cWhat there hasn\u2019t been, so far, is one organization that\u2019s truly dedicated to understanding the needs of conservation groups across British Columbia. Wild Salmon Center can play that support role.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been one organization dedicated to understanding the needs of conservation groups across British Columbia. Wild Salmon Center can play that support role.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center British Columbia Director Greg Knox<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Knox says he\u2019s ready to make this lift\u2014and that it’s needed now, more than ever. He sees a united front as key to making conservation gains in the near future, given rapidly shifting politics and policies both in Canada and elsewhere in North America<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the federal level and beyond, we\u2019re seeing new austerity, and a lot of uncertainty,\u201d Knox says. \u201cWe\u2019re really going to need to focus our collective attention and resources to make sure that B.C.\u2019s wild salmon and steelhead are safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, Knox shares how he\u2019ll work to \u201craise all boats\u201d across the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wild Salmon Center: You led SkeenaWild for the past 18 years. What\u2019s been the response from folks to your new role\u2014and its focus not on one watershed, but an entire province?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greg Knox:<\/em><\/strong> I feel pretty lucky in that everyone has been very supportive. They see the value in this move. Folks seem to feel that I can really help in this role. This position, and what it says about Wild Salmon Center\u2019s commitment to British Columbia and its partners here\u2014it\u2019s just really timely. We\u2019re entering volatile times. Wild Salmon Center can help ensure that critical work being done in the province can continue. Our goal is to raise all boats\u2014to bring more resources to the work in BC. at a time when it\u2019s more needed than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what\u2019s fueling my drive, is this incredible response I\u2019ve gotten so far. I\u2019m humbled, and also taking it really seriously. I understand that people are putting a lot of faith in me and I want to show that I\u2019m up to the challenge. But it\u2019s not going to be easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re entering volatile times. Wild Salmon Center can help ensure that critical work being done in the province can continue.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center British Columbia Director Greg Knox<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Protesting the proposed Petronas liquified natural gas terminal on the Skeena River estuary in October 2016. Select participants, from left to right: Donnie Wesley, Lax Kw\u2019alaams Hereditary Chief representing the Gitwilgyoots Tribe (far left), Greg Knox (center left, foreground, in suit), and Chief NaMoks of the Gitanyow First Nation (center right, in turquoise hat) outside a Vancouver courthouse. (Photo courtesy Skeena Media.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What challenges are you anticipating?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have some serious challenges right now with politics both at the federal level in Canada, and south of the border. It\u2019s bringing a lot of uncertainty to our work. We\u2019re likely facing reductions in spending from our federal government. So there\u2019s austerity already starting to hit us. And there are more challenges on the horizon. In British Columbia, our recently reelected provincial government has committed to protecting salmon and protected areas. And yet, it also seems to be refocusing efforts more on the economy\u2014and less on salmon and their habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you see opportunities to make headway in salmon conservation, given these emerging challenges?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely.  One key opportunity lies in holding the provincial government to its 30 by 30 commitment by creating new protected areas in places like the Skeena, Nass, and Central Coast. We can work on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border to strengthen the Pacific Salmon Treaty in light of our climate challenges and the unpredictability of our salmon and steelhead returns. And we can continue to support Indigenous-led land use planning<\/a>, like in the Skeena and Nass, as well as the work of First Nations to protect key salmon ecosystems like the Chilcotin River and Central Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOne key opportunity lies in holding the provincial government to its 30 by 30 commitment by creating new protected areas in places like the Skeena, Nass, and Central Coast.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center British Columbia Director Greg Knox<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Harrison River beach seining is a community effort for the Sts\u2019ailes and Scowlitz First Nations. (Photo courtesy River Select.) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How do you think Wild Salmon Center\u2014and you, personally\u2014can help advance this work?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good place to start is with the Indigenous communities who are leading the way in protecting salmon and steelhead habitat. This leadership isn\u2019t just in how they’re reforming land use planning. First Nations are also doing really innovative work in selective fisheries<\/a>, rebuilding plans, artificial intelligence<\/a>, genetics, and other research<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s not a lot of opportunity for these communities to talk to each other, regionally or internationally. That\u2019s where having an organization that can play a convenor role, like Wild Salmon Center, can be really helpful. We have the opportunity to help spotlight and scale this work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFirst Nations are doing innovative work in selective fisheries, rebuilding plans, artificial intelligence, genetics, and other research. We have the opportunity to help spotlight and scale this work.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center British Columbia Director Greg Knox<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Wild Salmon Center is really well positioned to help with that knowledge exchange, help showcase local heroes who are already implementing new fisheries management and habitat protection tools. Because these aren\u2019t just ideas. These are real solutions that are already happening in rivers. And happening in a significant way here in B.C. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve got a lot of work ahead of you, it sounds like. How are you preparing?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve spent most of my life exploring the Skeena and Nass with friends, family, and colleagues. I\u2019m really excited to now deepen my understanding in other salmon strongholds, and really understand them in a hands-on way. This spring and summer I\u2019ll be getting out to the Chilcotin, Taku, Kimsquit, and maybe out to the Central Coast. I have a lot of relationship-building ahead of me with First Nations and other local partners. And, hopefully, the opportunity to learn firsthand from other communities in strongholds beyond B.C.<\/p>\n\n\n

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This spring and summer, new Wild Salmon Center British Columbia Director Greg Knox plans to spend time meeting partners and exploring strongholds like the Chilcotin, Taku, Kimsquit, and Central Coast. (Photo: Taku River. Credit: Alamy.) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This incredible network of relationships is, I think, Wild Salmon Center’s true strength. We support local communities\u2014the people on the ground who can protect their rivers over the long term. But this local support is part of a larger, global story of salmon<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel really privileged to be taking on this challenge, and lucky to have so many colleagues and friends who want to work with me. I\u2019m ready for this new adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis incredible network of relationships is Wild Salmon Center\u2019s true strength. We support the people on the ground who can protect their rivers over the long term. But it’s part of a larger, global story of salmon.\u201d <\/p>\nWild Salmon Center British Columbia Director Greg Knox<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n

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