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The Skagit Environmental Endowment is an international fund established by a 1984 Treaty between Canada and the U.S. It is based on an Agreement between the City of Seattle
and the Province of British Columbia to settle the controversy over the High Ross Dam proposal. In the Treaty, Seattle City Light agreed to not raise Ross Dam thus preventing consequent flooding into Canada. This treaty also created the US-Canada Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission to administer the Endowment. The Commission cooperates with, but is independent from, the agencies and ministries responsible for managing the lands and natural resources in the upper Skagit Watershed.
Since its beginning the Commission has funded hundreds of projects. In recent years the combined grants totaled about US$300,000 each year. The types of projects SEEC has funded and is authorized to support are education, wildlife research, land acquisition to conserve minerals, timber and wilderness, and recreation projects such as hiking trails and campsites.
The Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission (SEEC) suspended its grant cycle in the 2004-5 fiscal year and conducted needs assessments in the areas of land management, education and interpretation, conservation biology and recreation. The Commission held a series of strategic planning exercises in the Summer of 2005 and affirmed its vision that the Upper Skagit Watershed should be protected forever and managed as a single ecosystem.
The Commission held a workshop "Protecting an International Watershed" attended by land management agencies and non-profits at Semiahmoo in March 2006. In the 2006/7 fiscal year SEEC solicited proposals and awarded funds to projects that fostered transboundary cooperation in the areas of Grizzly Bear Recovery, High Altitude Archaeology and Native Char Research.
The Commission continues to fund projects in the Watershed by supporting its partnerships with the North Cascades Institute, National Park Service and British Columbia Ministry of Environment.
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For further information, please contact U.S. staff (Celia Grether,
206.386.4588) or Canadian staff (Christine Tunnoch,
604.924.2224).
Sincerely,
Tony Kilduff, US Co-Chair
Lex Bennett, Canadian Co-Chair
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