The story so far
The work starts practical.
Communities like ours have watched big projects operate next door for years while the contracts flowed in from outside and back out again. Grizz Country exists to change that. We started with what the region needed right away, and every job builds toward what we are really here for: healthy land, local jobs, and restoration done by people who belong to this place.
01 · Today · Exploration support
Core boxes, built to spec and delivered on schedule
Drill programs run on core boxes. When a program needs a steady supply, we build them in Kluskus Lakes from locally sourced lumber, to the client's dimensions, brand them, stack them, and deliver on a regular schedule. When volumes shift, production shifts with them. Nobody has to chase us.
Our first contract was with Artemis Gold's Blackwater Mine. The repeat orders followed, and the count keeps climbing.
02 · Today · Field crews
Local crews on the ground at the mine
Our crews work the Fish Habitat Offset Project at Blackwater: fish salvage and exclusion fencing, stream and habitat structures, pump and water management, danger tree falling, fire watch, flagging, and the long days that come with a working mine site. Leadhands run the shifts, paperwork gets done daily, and the trucks are mine ready.
The same crews handle invasive species removal and land services across the region, working from an integrated pest management approach so the native plants get room to come back.
03 · Building toward · Restoration and growing
Native plants, grown from seed collected on this land
Reclamation, habitat offsets, and wildfire recovery all need one thing the region does not have a local source for: climate adapted native plants. We are building that source. Seed and berries collected across the Cariboo, cleaned, cold stratified, and grown out in containers, ready for the sites that need them.
Willow, spruce, pine, twinberry, soopolallie, and the understory species that make a site hold together. Collection has started. The greenhouse is the next build, with the first pilot grow cycle planned for the coming season.
Growing wild at Kluskus Lakes
The species we collect from are the ones already holding this ground: the first plants back after fire, the ones the pollinators work, the ones that belong here.
Where this is going
One season in. Building for the long run.
Done so far
- 5,500 core boxes built in Kluskus Lakes and delivered to Blackwater Mine
- Fish Habitat Offset Project crews on site at Blackwater through the season
- Invasive species removal and land services across the region
- Safety program built: safe work procedures, hazard assessments, daily reporting
- Seed and berry collection started for the nursery
Where we are going
- Greenhouse and native plant nursery at Kluskus Lakes
- First contract grow for reclamation planting in 2027
- Restoration crews: planting, habitat work, wildfire recovery
- Multi-year stewardship agreements with operators and nations
- More local jobs, and the skills that stay in the community
Operators, consultants, nations, and funders: if any of this lines up with what you are planning, we would like to hear from you.
Where we work
Based in the bush, not in a city office
We are based at Kluskus Lakes, in Lhoosk'uz territory west of Quesnel. That puts us hours closer to the projects on the Chilcotin Plateau than any contractor working out of Prince George or the Lower Mainland, and it means the people on our crews already know the roads, the weather, and the ground.
Why GCLS
Reliable enough for a mine site. Local enough to actually show up.
Rooted here
Crews from the Lhoosk'uz community and neighbouring nations who already know the land. Less travel, faster mobilization, and the money stays in the region.
Mine ready
Incorporated, registered, and set up the way a large operator expects: safe work procedures, daily hazard assessments, first aid, and paperwork that arrives the same day.
Built to last
Every early contract builds toward the long arc: a native plant nursery, restoration crews, and stewardship agreements that outlast any single project.
From the field
Summer 2026, Blackwater and home
Roots
Started by someone who is not leaving
Grizz Country was founded by Daniel Cupples of Lhoosk'uz Dené. Before starting the company he served as Climate Action Coordinator for Lhoosk'uz Dené, working where Indigenous governance, land stewardship, and community led environmental action meet.
He started GCLS to build something lasting: a locally rooted business that keeps economic opportunity close to home and takes the long term health of the land seriously.
Show up. Know the ground. Do it right the first time.
Work with us
Got a scope? Let's talk.
Core boxes, field crews, invasive species, native plants, or something you are not sure anyone local can do. Send it over. We reply fast and we quote plain.