What Can We Learn? Reconnecting Land and People through Story and Partnership

By Jen Syrowitz, Conservation Programs Sr. Manager

A family of geese use I-90 wildlife undercrossing. WSDOT.  

I first fell in love with animals through story, specifically, Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. I read those books until the pages fell out! Fast forward to one year between undergraduate and graduate school when I worked at a vet clinic. One day someone brought in a box of “abandoned” ducklings. I held one in the palm of my hands, and someone took a picture. Today, I still carry this picture in my wallet because that was the moment I knew I was going to work either with or on behalf of wildlife for my career. All through my university studies, I learned from Native elders and spiritual practitioners – often through story – about how conservation work could and must be done in a holistic way – one that includes language, culture, and biotic systems.

At Conservation Northwest, our mission to protect, connect, and restore habitat is centered in the scientific conservation of wildlife and resilient, biodiverse ecosystems. At the same time, the conservation paradigm is shifting, and it is our ever-evolving methodology to use multiple ways of knowing that fuels my passion to achieve conservation results through reconciliation between people and the land. Eco-culturally connected lands and people can restore our souls and our landscape so that wildlife will always find everything they need to thrive across our incomparably beautiful state. This means we start conversations with our Indigenous friends and Tribal partners asking, “What can we learn?” In turn, we continue to learn and grow both professionally and organizationally, building durable bridges – literally and figuratively – for wildlife and people. 

 Syrowitz holds a duckling early in her career at a vet clinic.

Building bridges is no easy feat. Figuratively, it takes decades – generations – of dedicated patience, and the humble passing on of relationships through story. Literally, if we want to manifest good outcomes for wildlife through these relationships, building bridges also takes strategic planning and money – lots of money.

Re-connecting habitat is a globally recognized best-strategy to protect and restore landscapes and improve biodiversity and ecological function. As such, states across the country are publishing Connectivity Action Plans, meant to help prioritize and guide crossing projects that will enable wildlife to move more freely though their environment. Washington’s Habitat Connectivity Action Plan (WAHCAP) is unique because it includes both transportation/infrastructure connectivity priorities (i.e. crossings), and habitat priorities across the state (i.e. habitat conservation and restoration). Using some of the best data in the country, we now have a plan from which to measure our connectivity progress over the decades ahead. Moving forward, we will need a collective strategy to execute that plan. 

This work is at the core of Conservation Northwest. “Connect” is our middle name, is ingrained in how we think about landscapes, and built into our conservation practice. Therefore, it should be no surprise that our biggest successes come from strong, relationship-based collaboration. With the WAHCAP in hand, over the next 15 months, we will be working with agency partners, Tribes, stakeholders, and local communities to renew the Washington Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group (WWHCWG) and move the WAHCAP from collective vision to collective action. Our immediate goals are to broaden and strengthen relationships, update shared goals, and establish a durable operational framework from which to make decisions. Building on nearly two decades of research, we will reconvene partners to drive on-the-ground connectivity efforts that benefit wildlife biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.

A mule deer doe at Rocky Run. WSDOT. 

Our region’s incomparable ecological diversity and abundance has previously thrived under place-based Indigenous stewardship and now demands renewed coordination between agencies, Tribes, and stakeholders to protect and restore habitat connectivity to benefit ecological and human communities. Implementation itself involves strategies (e.g. land use planning, transportation infrastructure) and feasibility needs (e.g. policy, funding, and public support). Through Working Group coordination, you will see agencies, Tribes, and partners integrating research and data into land-use planning, advancing effective infrastructure investments, supporting collaborative stewardship across public land managers, incentivizing private landowners to engage in habitat restoration and protection, and supporting Indigenous-led stewardship. To ensure durable and effective outcomes, members of the Working Group will also prioritize the feasibility of implementation, seeding regional efforts, practicing Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) with Tribes, and engaging in outreach, advocacy, policymaking and fundraising efforts – the things that enable the WAHCAP to come alive across our landscapes and in our communities.

A mule deer uses wildlife undercrossing at Hyak. WSDOT. 

We might have all the data in the world, but if we don’t have appropriate Tribal engagement, social and political capital, and the funding to help operationalize the plan, we won’t be successful at implementation. For years CNW has convened and facilitated the Washinton Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group. This renewal is a broadening of the Group’s work, and an evolution of how we organize to get things done on the ground. 

I started this piece writing on the importance of story to build relationships that enable good outcomes for wildlife, and how connecting habitat, wildlife, and people is built into our conservation practice at Conservation Northwest. Many of our biggest wins were due to collaborative work and in partnership with Tribes. But we can do even better. We can ingrain the practice of FPIC into every project, campaign, and advocacy effort, building lawful Tribal engagement into how we practice conservation. We can continue to give land back to Tribes and Indigenous peoples – the first, place-based stewards of Turtle Island. We can ask “What can we learn?” before asking “How can we help?” Through Indigenous Knowledge, scientific data, and a collective will to reconnect the land for wildlife while reconnecting ourselves with the land, we can heal habitat and ecosystems so that wildlife can migrate, breed, feed, and have all the things they need in order to thrive. This work – reconnecting habitat and restoring watersheds and floodplains while listening to Indigenous voices and local communities – takes decades. In a generation, we aspire that people will think of connectivity not just as something that connects humans, but as the interwoven, complex system that it is, where human connectivity adjusts to the needs of dynamic ecosystems and species movement. It is these connected ecological networks that enable biodiversity, climate resiliency, and sustain all life on earth.