Stewardship Partners

Stewardship Partners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington, focused on voluntary, incentive-based environmental stewardship on privately owned and working lands. Its work is centered on Washington State and connects private landowners, farmers, forest owners, businesses, community organizations, tribes, and public or nonprofit resource providers. The organization seeks to make conservation compatible with farms, forestland, local economies, and livable communities rather than treating environmental protection as separate from economic and social activity. The organization emerged from concerns about the distance between government policy and the practical realities of land management. Co-founder Chris Bayley became familiar with agricultural communities during a political campaign in the late 1990s and observed that landowners were often reluctant to follow guidance from outside groups that did not understand local conditions. Stewardship Partners was established in 1999 to develop a more cooperative model, encourage local action, and create conservation approaches that could be adapted elsewhere. Rather than operating primarily as a landowner or regulator, Stewardship Partners acts as a liaison and catalyst. It helps landowners and businesses find technical assistance, financing, market opportunities, and conservation partners from governmental and nongovernmental sources. Its projects have included fish and wildlife habitat restoration, water-quality improvement, open-space protection, sustainable resource management, and measures intended to reduce the environmental effects of development. A major element of the organization’s work is the Salmon-Safe Certification Program. The program recognizes farms and other operations that adopt practices intended to protect salmon habitat, watershed health, water quality, and associated fish and wildlife resources. The certification mark has been used in connection with products such as wine, dairy, produce, and fruit. Stewardship Partners has also worked to expand the applicability of Salmon-Safe approaches beyond farms and vineyards, including possible applications to golf courses and residential development. Regional watershed initiatives illustrate the organization’s place-based approach. In the Snoqualmie Valley, it has supported landowner-led restoration projects with farms, including efforts to restore sections of riverbank. In the Nisqually watershed, Stewardship Partners worked with the Nisqually Tribe and other organizations on a long-term stewardship plan designed to balance environmentally sensitive development with the protection of forests, farms, fish, and a sustainable natural-resource economy. The initiative also included watershed branding intended to support local businesses. Stewardship Partners has promoted low-impact development practices for managing stormwater. Its rain-garden education and demonstration work has addressed homeowners, landscapers, and institutional managers, while related techniques include vegetated roofs, bioswales, and permeable pavement. These measures are intended to retain and infiltrate stormwater near where it falls, thereby reducing polluted runoff into Puget Sound. Publicly described results include education for more than 700 participants and construction of 30 demonstration rain gardens with community partners since 2007. The organization’s identity is therefore based on collaborative conservation, practical landowner engagement, watershed restoration, and market or incentive mechanisms. It is not a conventional consumer brand with a broad retail product portfolio; its recognizable offerings are conservation programs, certification, technical coordination, planning initiatives, and environmental education.

Stewardship Partners was established in 1999 in Washington State as a nonprofit response to the perceived gap between public environmental policy and the realities of private land management. Co-founder Chris Bayley’s experience meeting agriculturalists during a political campaign in the late 1990s helped shape the organization’s approach. Those encounters suggested that conservation efforts were more likely to succeed when they were developed with landowners, reflected local knowledge, and provided practical incentives rather than relying solely on directives from outside institutions. From its beginning, Stewardship Partners presented itself as a catalyst for cooperative conservation and local action. Its role has generally been to connect landowners and businesses with technical, financial, and marketing resources available through public agencies and nonprofit organizations. This intermediary model allows projects to address ecological objectives while retaining the economic and operational functions of farms, forestlands, and communities. The organization’s programs have addressed several interconnected goals: restoring fish and wildlife habitat, improving water quality, protecting open space, and promoting sustainable resource management. Its work has included landowner-based restoration in the Snoqualmie Valley, where projects with farms restored portions of riverbank and supported agricultural products serving the Seattle market. In the Nisqually watershed, Stewardship Partners collaborated with the Nisqually Tribe and other organizations on a 50-year stewardship plan. That plan sought to guide environmentally sensitive development while maintaining the watershed’s forest, farm, and fish resources. It also supported low-impact development, a sustainable natural-resource economy, and a branding effort intended to benefit local businesses. Salmon-Safe became one of the organization’s most visible conservation mechanisms. The certification program recognizes agricultural operations that adopt practices designed to protect native salmon habitat, streams, water quality, and broader watershed health. The certification has been associated with products including wine, dairy, produce, and fruit. Public descriptions of the program report that, during its first four years in Washington, more than 60 farms and 25 vineyards had been certified. Stewardship Partners also explored extending the model to additional land uses, including golf courses and residential developments. Another significant area of activity has been stormwater management. Beginning in 2007, the organization taught homeowners, landscapers, and institutional managers about rain gardens and related low-impact development tools. These tools include vegetated roofs, bioswales, and permeable pavement, all of which can help retain or infiltrate polluted stormwater before it reaches Puget Sound. The organization reported building 30 demonstration rain gardens with community partners and educating more than 700 people through this work. Across these initiatives, Stewardship Partners has emphasized voluntary participation, partnerships, demonstration projects, and approaches that can be replicated in other communities. Its history is therefore best understood as the development of a regional conservation network rather than the expansion of a commercial product company. Publicly available reference material provides limited information about its internal governance, later leadership, budgets, and current program scale.

• 2007

  Rain-garden education and demonstration work expanded

  [1]Stewardship Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  Stewardship Partners began the period identified in its public account for teaching rain-garden and low-impact development practices and building demonstration installations with community partners.

• 1999

  Stewardship Partners established

  [1]Stewardship Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  The nonprofit began operating with a mission to promote cooperative, locally grounded conservation and help landowners preserve environmental resources while maintaining working landscapes.

A collaborative, incentive-based conservation partner that helps private landowners and businesses improve habitat and water quality while maintaining working farms, forests, communities, and local economies.

• Environmental certification

  Salmon-Safe Certification Program

  A conservation certification program for farms and related land uses that adopt practices intended to protect native salmon habitat, water quality, fish and wildlife, and watershed health. The certification has been associated with agricultural products including wine, dairy, produce, and fruit. Stewardship Partners has also worked toward adapting the model for uses beyond farms and vineyards, including golf courses and residential developments.

• Environmental education and stormwater management · 2007

  Rain-garden and low-impact development program

  An educational and demonstration initiative focused on rain gardens and related techniques such as vegetated roofs, bioswales, and permeable pavement. The practices are intended to capture and infiltrate stormwater close to its source, reducing polluted runoff into Puget Sound. The program has served homeowners, landscapers, and institutional managers and has included demonstration installations.

• 2007Rain-garden demonstration campaign

  Puget Sound region · Washington State

  An outreach effort that taught homeowners, landscapers, and institutional managers how rain gardens and other low-impact development practices can reduce polluted stormwater runoff.

  Outcome. The organization reported educating more than 700 people and constructing 30 demonstration rain gardens with community partners.

  Source
• Snoqualmie Valley habitat restoration initiative

  Snoqualmie Valley · Washington State

  A landowner-centered restoration effort involving valley farms and other partners. Public descriptions identify 18 restoration projects and approximately seven miles of restored riverbank, with participating farms serving products primarily to the Seattle market.

  Outcome. Reported outcomes included restoration of riverbank habitat and coordination of conservation with continued agricultural production.

  Source
• Nisqually Stewardship Plan

  Nisqually watershed · Washington State

  Stewardship Partners collaborated with the Nisqually Tribe and other nonprofit organizations on a 50-year plan for environmentally sensitive development and protection of the watershed’s forests, farms, and fish resources.

  Outcome. The initiative supported low-impact development, a sustainable natural-resource economy, and a watershed branding effort intended to support local businesses.

  Source

1. 1Stewardship Partnersen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Stewardship Partnersstewardshippartners.org