The Scotia River drains a watershed on the southern shore of the Skeena River, about 49 miles (79 km) southwest of Terrace and 29 miles (47 km) east-southeast of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Although the watershed has an extensive network of logging roads, access to this area is only by helicopter or by barge from Kwinitsa on the north shore of the Skeena River. A logging camp and sorting yard owned by Interfor Corporation and operated by Bear Creek Contracting was located at the confluence of the Scotia and Skeena Rivers.

Interfor Corporation (International Forest Products) is one of the largest lumber producers in the world. The company is based in Vancouver with sawmills in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas. Interfor is one of several companies that log old-growth spruce and cedar trees from the Great Bear Rainforest, which is part of the larger Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion comprising 15,814,730 acres (6,400,000 ha). The Great Bear Rainforest was officially recognized by the Government of British Columbia in February 2016, when it announced an agreement to permanently protect 85% of the old-growth forested area from industrial logging.

The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unspoiled coastal temperate rainforest left in the world. The area is home to cougars, wolves, salmon, grizzly bears, and the Kermode bear, a unique subspecies of the black bear. The forest features 1,000-year-old western red cedar and Sitka spruce over 300 feet (90 m) tall. Coastal temperate rainforests are characterized by their proximity to both ocean and mountains. Abundant rainfall results when the atmospheric flow of moist air off the ocean collides with mountain ranges. Much of the Pacific coastline of North America shares this climate pattern, including portions of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. Read more here and here. Explore more of Scotia River here: