Collaborative Leadership Project

The need

Washington state is where multiparty collaborative governance on natural resource issues began. Collaborative approaches have led to many groundbreaking policy outcomes in Washington such as the Timber/Fish/Wildlife (TFW) and Forest & Fish agreements; Chelan Agreement for water resource management; Tribes & Counties Intergovernmental Cooperation Project; Puyallup Land Claims Settlement; watershed management in places like the Nisqually Basin; Columbia River Salmon Recovery Boards; Shared Strategy for Salmon Recovery in Puget Sound and its predecessors; Puget Sound Partnership; Walla Walla Water Management; Yakima Basin Integrated Plan; Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force; and others. As it approaches the 50-year mark, there is agreement this history is unique, and that capturing it is important for preserving our legacy and knowledge.

But it is perhaps even more important for what it can teach current leaders and the next generation (not to mention the rest of the country and world) about how to do this important and challenging work, and make this type of progress. And yet no such history exists to provide this guidance. No one has assembled the stories of the issues, outcomes, and impacts of these landmark collaborations. No one has profiled the important figures involved, and added observations and insights about where we have been, and where we are going.

Now is the time to capture these histories and tell the story, so that we continue to benefit from the efforts of those who came before us, who worked so hard to establish better ways to resolve the complex challenges posed by natural resource management. This history provides a wealth of experience and examples of how to build relationships and collaboratively solve public problems. We need to convey this information to current and upcoming leaders, so they can understand, appreciate, and preserve this history, put their own stamp on it, and continue to address challenges this way.

Project goals

The first step in preserving this legacy is to capture the narratives of those who were there when this history was made. The initial focus is oral history interviews with conveners, sponsors, participants, and practitioners from landmark natural resource collaborations. This will also include determining how to make the resulting oral histories and other source materials available long-term. It will then focus on turning the resulting source material into a documentary film that tells the story of natural resource collaboration from the 1970s to the present.

Such a documentary will serve as an outstanding way to commemorate important upcoming milestones such as the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision (which upheld tribal treaty fishing rights), the 40th anniversary of the salmon co-management relationship between the state and the tribes, and the unveiling of a statue of Billy Frank, Jr in the Washington state section of the US Capitol Rotunda.

Project partners and sponsors

The Collaborative Leadership Project is hosted by the UW Center for Urban Waters (CUW)/Puget Sound Institute (PSI). TVW, Washington’s public affairs network, is providing the project’s videography and production services. CUW estimates that funding the two-year effort will require $750,000 and invites other institutions, schools, departments, universities, public or private foundations, or private donors to join it in sponsoring the project. Federal, state, tribal, and local governments, as well as non-governmental and private organizations, may also be interested in sponsoring the effort and helping preserve this history, as their senior leaders are retiring, their history is at risk, recognition of the gains made through collaboration may be fading, and important milestones that this project could help commemorate are approaching.

If you would like to support the project with a gift online, visit the Center for Urban Waters Project Fund, and note that it is for the Collaborative Leadership Project in the Comments/Special Instructions box that will come up after you click on the “Give Now” and “Proceed to Check Out” buttons, and fill in the name, address, and card number details.

If you would rather give via check, you can make it out to UW Foundation, put “Center for Urban Waters Collaborative Leadership Project” in the memo field, and mail it to UW Tacoma (Attn: Diana Lopez), Box 358432, 1900 Commerce Street, Tacoma, WA. 98402.

To sponsor via a grant or contract, contact Project Lead Michael Kern via the contact information at the bottom of this page.

Sponsorships secured to date includes funding and pledges from Anchor QEA, Eric Camplin, Ann Goos, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Nisqually Tribe, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Puget Sound Partnership, Puget Sound Institute, Puyallup Tribe Charitable Trust, Seattle City Light, Sequoia Foundation, Squaxin Island Tribe, Suquamish Tribe/Suquamish Foundation, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, City of Tacoma Environmental Services, The Tulalip Tribes, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State University Extension CED, and William D. Ruckelshaus Center.

Special thanks to the Project’s Tribal Advisory Committee members Willie Frank III (Nisqually Tribe), Doreen Maloney and Scott Schuyler (Upper Skagit Tribe), Paul Ward (Yakama Nation), Bobby Whitener (Squaxin Island Tribe), and Shawn Yanity (Stillaguamish Tribe).