Unifying Habitat Conservation Strategies at Multiple Scales Among Multiple Jurisdictions: Lessons from the Puget Sound

Over a decade ago, the Puget Sound began an innovative effort to use multiple, watershed-based planning groups composed of tribal leaders and biologists, state fishery managers, and local governments to develop recovery plans for species of Chinook salmon and other species listed under the Endangered Species Act.  Over this period, this basic approach has been refined and expanded to take on broader conservation objectives. In this presentation, we discuss the approaches and lessons learned in coordinating implementation of this planning across multiple jurisdictions and geographical scales.  These lessons include learning to use a common vocabulary; developing shared conceptual models for habitat recovery; identifying key ecological attributes of different terrestrial, freshwater, nearshore, and marine habitats; identify ecological indicators; setting recovery targets and interim milestones; and developing a broad-based multi-stakeholder ecological monitoring program.