Driving into Port Alberni, B.C., it's hard to miss the looming face of Mount Arrowsmith. 

The mountain's prominence has made it an important fixture in the small Vancouver Island community, located around 200 kilometres northwest of Victoria, known for its fishing and resource economy, which caused it to become one of the highest-paid communities in Canada at one time.

Once stoked with timber and fish, Port Alberni's resource industry has suffered mill closures and mill shift curtailments. The bu…