Facilitation of the Columbia Basin Collaborative

The States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana are developing a collaborative framework that strives for abundant and harvestable salmon and steelhead in a manner that appreciates and addresses the needs of the regional economy, in the Columbia River Basin. Historically, Columbia Basin issues have been mostly addressed through litigation. The Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force and now the Columbia Basin Collaborative (CBC) have been supported by the strategic guidance and facilitation services of contractor Kearns & West. Thirty-three regional sovereigns and stakeholders were formally convened to form the Integration/Recommendations Group of the Columbia Basin Collaborative. The CBC process is well underway and this next phase of work will be to develop recommendations, based on sound-science, and build consensus for recommendations to achieve the Columbia Basin Partnership Goals. This contract provides for the continuation of strategic guidance and facilitation services to support the Columbia Basin Collaborative. The four states are seeking a process that will: (1) provide for a collaborative approach to highly complex legal, technical, and policy issues; and 2) promote a fair and productive engagement process. Kearns & West will use engagement opportunities to address challenges such as: diverse interests from many sectors; divergent federal and state policies and regulations; conflicting social expectations; and evolving environmental attitudes. We will use opportunities to create an open and transparent process that addresses both the ESA and tribal treaty/trust goals. Implementing this process will require generating a level of trust among divergent interests to make engagement possible.

Facilitation assistance and process design support for the Columbia Basin Collaborative (CBC).