Ken Belford was born to a farming family in Debolt, Alberta, and grew up in East Vancouver. In the late 1960s, he moved to Smithers, B.C., where he homesteaded with his wife, Alice Williams. He now operates a guiding/outfitting business that specializes in wilderness excursions based at Blackwater Lake in the Nass watershed. He has published two books of poetry, Pathways into the Mountains and Fireweed. An eco-poet who examines the archetypal Canadian conflict of development and preservation, Ken Belford looks at both sides, delving into the heart of each argument.