Environmental Conflict

The Skagit Valley: A Case Study

The Skagit River valley of northwest Washington State is the largest watershed draining to the Puget Sound, and restoring salmon habitat there is considered essential to recovering the Puget Sound ecosystem as a whole. Yet disputes over habitat restoration have earned the Valley a reputation for being “mired” in intractable conflict. For decades, goals of recovering salmon and protecting farmland have been seemingly pitted against each other in competition for the same land. At stake are some of the healthiest remaining wild runs of salmon in the lower forty-eight, some of the richest soils in the world, and the future of local farming and tribal communities. In its ecological, jurisdictional and cultural complexity, the Skagit Valley can be seen as a microcosm of the American West, and analogous to other places characterized by pluralistic societies and diverse landscapes. In this way, the valley serves as a rich case study for understanding environmental conflict.

This project takes an anthropological and artistic approach to exploring, specifically, the social and cultural factors contributing to the Skagit conflict. In doing so, it aims to develop lessons for how managers and local communities can learn about and account for these powerful yet often overlooked humanistic dimensions of ecosystem recovery. For example, in this study I focus on perceptions of history, ideas of legitimate knowledge, senses of place, and axes of trust and mistrust, and how these all vary among the communities in the valley. The current study will build on research conducted in 2001-2011 in order to update and finalize a book manuscript and theatrical script that are currently in draft form. Ultimately, the goal is to publish a book and stage a play that will spur self-reflection, meaningful dialogue, and new ways of approaching the “people” aspects of ecosystem recovery.

A book and a play are expected in 2024. Please contact me if you would like to learn more.

Publications to Date

Breslow, SJ. 2015. When the anthropologist becomes a character: critical reflections on the perils and possibilities of research-based theatre. In Linds, W and E Vettraino, eds. Playing in a House of Mirrors: Applied Theatre as Reflective Practice. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Breslow, SJ. 2014. Tribal science and farmers’ resistance: a political ecology of salmon habitat restoration in the American Northwest. Anthropological Quarterly, 87(3): 695-726.

Breslow, SJ. 2014. A complex tool for a complex problem: political ecology in the service of ecosystem recovery. Coastal Management. 42: 308–331.

Reports & Newsletter Articles

Breslow, SJ, with N Baloy, J Gigot, J Donatuto, M Mark, A Sheikh, and C Thrush. 2024. Engaging the Environmental Humanities for Ecosystem Recovery: Selected Concepts and Recommendations. A thought paper for the Puget Sound Partnership, April 8, Seattle, Washington.

Breslow, S. 2005a. In and out of the communities and forests-to-be of salmon habitat restoration. Regeneration! Newsletter of the Community Forestry Research Fellowship Program.

Breslow, S. 2005b. Understanding the volunteer experience in the Edgewater Park restoration project.Skagit Watershed Council, Mount Vernon, Washington.

Breslow, S. 2005c. Was it a party? Understanding the volunteer experience in the Edgewater Park restoration project. Skagit River Tidings: Newsletter of the Skagit Watershed Council.

Breslow, S. 2001. Farmers’ perceptions of salmon habitat restoration measures: loss and contestation. Environmental Protection Agency and Society for Applied Anthropology, Seattle.

Media

“Of salmon and the stage: UW anthropologist’s research comes to life as a play,” by Nancy Wick. UW Today. April 8, 2010.

This study is currently supported by a grant from the Puget Sound Partnership; previous work was supported by the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation.