Commencement Address
University of Washington, College of Forest Resources
By Dr. Jeff Koenings, WDFW Director
June 9, 2000

Graduates and your families and friends, faculty and staff of the College of Forest Resources, and Dean Thorud: Thank you for letting me share this day with you.

As youcelebrate your arrival in the ranks of professional scientists and resource managers, it is a day of celebration for me, too.

Of course it's personally gratifying to see others choosing a path I have taken -- 23 years ago I earned a doctorate in natural resources from the University of Michigan. Much of my professional experience both as a biological research scientist working with salmon, and as a policy administrator working with people was in Alaska. Over my career, I have experienced the wonders of the temperate rain forests of Southeast Alaska, the incredible harvests of tens of millions of salmon over just a few days in Bristol Bay, and the spectacular wildlife from solitary polar bears, to social musk oxen, to vast herds of caribou and seemingly endless flocks of geese.

I share with you a passion for our natural resources, and natural resources and their management has deep roots in my family. My father began his career as a professional forester working in the forest industry in Wisconsin, then moved on in his career to provide outdoor recreational opportunities for people, and was one of the first administrators of the federal Endangered Species Act. My brother is a Park Supervisor with the National Park Service, an organization that deals primarily with the politics of managing people. My point is this: natural resource management deals with both the science of plants and animals, and the management of people. Both sciences are needed, the biological and the political.

I also celebrate what your choice of profession means for the future of Washington.

I celebrate because I am convinced that science is the compass that will guide us to a future that affords us both healthy ecosystems and sustainable use of natural resources. As Kai Lee has said in his recent book "Compass and Gyroscope: Integrating Science and Politics for the Environment," biological science is the compass that points the direction, the gyroscope that keeps us on course is harnessing the political will of the people. We need to work in both worlds if we are to be truly effective in bettering the state of our precious natural resources.

I am reminded of Clarence Day who said, "information makes a pretty thin mortar, unless mixed with experience." Even if I wasn't already sure of that, my experiences of the past year would have persuaded me. Last March, just two months after I arrived here in Washington, as the new director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Puget Sound chinook salmon were federally listed as a threatened species. The number of salmon and other Washington wild fish populations now under federal protection stands at 16, and that number is expected to rise.

Wild salmon recovery is one of the most complex natural resource challenges the region, or the country, has faced. It is an extraordinary effort that affects every citizen in the state, the way we live and the way we use our land. With so many federal, state, local and tribal players involved, one of the biggest challenges is working with a wide diversity of people and interests to craft a "shared strategy" or "common vision" so that salmon recovery will have the greatest likelihood of success.

Once a "shared strategy" for recovering salmon is crafted through the political or policy process, science takes the spotlight. Science, as practiced by fish and habitat scientists working for the Universities, state agencies, state tribes and local governments is the tool used to determine the strength of a salmon run or the ability of a stream to support a healthy fish population. It is the tool used to diagnose the problem, determine a solution, and document its success. Without science to guide us, the multi-million-dollar salmon recovery effort would be a shot in the dark.

I previously had mentioned the need to mix information with experience to form the best mortar. Does that mean that all experiences will be good? The answer, of course, is No! You will experience failures as well as successes and believe me, I have had my share of both. However, as Henry Ford said, "Failure is another opportunity to succeed with more intelligence." Within my mandate to recover salmon, I will have failures, but I have to try until I get it right, and by trying I will succeed with the intelligence I will gain from experience. The message is simple: don't be afraid to try because you might fail. You will only fail if you don't try.

Science also tells us that the success of salmon recovery is crucial even away from the water. Evidence is continuing to mount confirming the vital role that salmon play in the health of the entire forest ecosystem. A recent report issued jointly by my agency and the Department of Natural Resources found no less than 137 wildlife species here and in Oregon that depend on Pacific salmon for part of their diet. In addition, marine nutrients from decaying salmon act as fertilizers and are rapidly assimilated by the riparian vegetation that, in turn, is so necessary for the clean, cool water in our salmon bearing streams and rivers.

Thus, just as salmon are a keystone species in the forest, the forest habitat is essential to salmon. Just this year, the Washington Forest Practices Board implemented the "Forest and Fish Agreement," passed by the Legislature last year and part of implementing Governor Gary Locke's pledge to the people of Washington that salmon "extinction is not an option."

This agreement is historic in that forest practices on eight million acres of private, non-federal forest land will meet requirements of both the federal Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. It will help ensure that forest streams continue to flow with the clear, cool, connected, and complex water that fish need.

Specifically, the Forest and Fish agreement addresses riparian buffer zones, unstable slopes, forest roads, pesticide application, wetland protection, watershed analysis, and small landowner conservation easements. To ensure that science continues to guide forest management, it also provides for ongoing research to validate cause-and-effect relationships as management changes in response to better science. As such, adaptive management will ensure that best available science is continually applied in forest resource management.

I find it encouraging that a commitment to scientific researchincreasingly is echoed on a national level. That commitment has been expressed in recent pledges from national leaders to increase our country's investment in science to address problems ranging from AIDS to global warming. As President Clinton has said, "a commitment to scientific research must be a part of how every American, regardless of political party or personal endeavor, thinks about our nation and its future."

Acting on my conviction that science provides the guiding light for our resource management efforts, I have assigned three chief scientists to each of our agency's resource programs: Fisheries, Wildlife and Habitat. It is my intent that this will create a renewed emphasis on the scientific framework for our management of fish and wildlife.

Under these chief scientists, we are committed to addressing resource management problems through research, from learning more about declining marine groundfish populations to struggling herds of high-country mule deer.

I am optimistic that this emerging commitment may help address a longstanding difficulty facing our natural resources--the problem of securing stable funding sources for management and research.

For example, in recent years, the proportion of state general-fund dollars going to Washington natural resource agencies has not just stalled, but has been cut drastically. At the beginning of the '90s, just 2.6 cents of every state general-fund dollar went to natural resource agencies; by 1998 that share had been cut in half to about 1.4 cents of every state general fund dollar.

The trend is clear, so how do we fill the void as we adapt or evolve to fulfill our role as sound stewards of the resource? One avenue is to end our isolation and recognize that good ideas are not unique to a self appointed few. Reach out and form partnerships, with universities for example, that bring together the required mental and fiscal resources to solve problems. Partnerships can harness the tremendous energy and resourcefulness of people who want to make a difference if just given the opportunity to contribute. To many, this is a threat, to still others this is a challenge, to me this is a necessity.

My hope for our fish, wildlife and all natural resources -- and for you new graduates in these fields -- is that we continue to support and use science as our compass into the future, and that we continue to strengthen our connection to people, our gyroscope. The compass and the gyroscope working together provide the best hope for sustainable resources.

As the newest among our ranks of professional scientists, you will have to help shape that future of healthy ecosystems and sustainable use of natural resources.

Now, as I integrate my 10 years of university education with my 23 years of experience, I have three observations:

First, as you gain life's experiences outside these halls, the thinking of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as he struggled to lead the country out of the Great Depression in the 1930's is still relevant today: "Take a method and try it, if it fails, admit it frankly and try another, but above all try something."

The second is this: "The reason boundaries exist where they do today is that they are tested periodically." Your time for testing boundaries is now, enjoy it, and do something good with it. Always remember that your decisions will affect real people, and that is an awesome responsibility.

Third, your being here today speaks volumes about the quality of your education, your ability to reason, and yes, your basic intelligence. But remember, the mind is connected to the heart, and the best exercise for the heart is reaching down and helping someone up. By regularly exercising your minds through reasoned thinking and your hearts during the experiences ahead, the forest, fish and wildlife resources we have borrowed from our children can be their legacy to their children.

I look forward to working with you, as colleagues, in our passionate pursuit of excellence in the field of natural resources. Thank you, again, for letting me share this day of celebration with you.

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