The University of Washington Puget Sound Institute and TVW are proud to have partnered with more than 20 diverse organizations, including multiple tribes, to produce the film Finding Common Ground: Collaborative Leadership in Washington State. The new documentary, airing this Tuesday, November 5th on TVW, explores the inspiring history of collaborative governance of salmon and other natural resources in our state and region.
Washington state is where collaborative governance on natural resources began in the early 1970s, with a groundbreaking agreement to resolve conflicts over flood control on the Snoqualmie River. As the new field grew, it helped to resolve a key civil rights struggle over tribal fishing rights in Washington known as the Fish Wars, which came to a head in a landmark legal case referred to as the Boldt Decision. After the US Supreme Court upheld the Boldt Decisions recognition of tribal treaty rights, the parties eventually turned to collaborative governance to resolve their conflict, and the resulting state/tribal co-management of salmon and steelhead persists to this day. Since then, collaborative approaches in Washington have led to many groundbreaking outcomes, greatly influencing the rest of the nation over a 50-year history. — Michael Kern, co-producer, Finding Common Ground
Watch Finding Common Ground on TVW this Tuesday, November 5th at 7:00pm and 9:00 pm, or stream it online from TVW’s webpage.
Other ways watch include cable TV, TVW moble app, Roku TV, and more. Learn more.
View the film trailer.
Related
Checkout more than 50 oral history interviews with conveners, sponsors, participants, and practitioners from landmark natural resource collaborations conducted in the state of Washington since the mid-1970s. Recorded 2022– 2024, the videos are available at the non-profit library Internet Archive.