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When Lynn Best joined ’69 utility company Seattle City Light in 1982, her team faced an urgent challenge: assessing the environmental, cultural, and financial impacts of three electricity-producing dams on the Skagit River in northwest Washington State. As acting director, he was able to persuade City Light to let the environmental team lead the negotiations.
“Of course,” says Best, “the biggest problem was protecting the salmon in the river.” Four types of salmonids were known to spawn at different times and depths. The team relied on science to determine optimum flow and ramp rates, putting the health of these species first above power demand. Because the work was done in collaboration with state and federal agencies, as well as local tribal communities, these partner groups took the approach for the first time on a major hydro project. Fish replied immediately. Chum and pink salmon are back in historical abundance.
City Light’s efforts did not go unnoticed. In 1992, a senior member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the utility company’s Skagit River effort was the most comprehensive for the public good he had ever seen. According to Best, if you dig deep enough, more than one science-based solution to a problem will emerge. And in his experience, at least one of these answers can benefit all stakeholders. This is a lesson he learned while studying biology at MIT.
Of course mistakes happen. About a decade ago, the dam gates did not open properly, draining water from several salmon nests. This time around, Best, as Seattle City Light’s director of environmental affairs, and his now much larger team reported the breach to their partners. Tribal communities “did not advocate any punishment, which is quite unheard of in these circumstances,” he says. It was a testament to how effective his collaborative approach was.
In 2005, under Best’s leadership, Seattle City Light became the first electricity company in the country to become carbon neutral. And more recently, during her tenure as the organization’s environmental steward, she has advocated for an environmental justice program to protect and support diverse and economically disadvantaged communities.
Best retired from Seattle City Light in early 2020. He is currently a commissioner at the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission, which is dedicated to preserving the Upper Skagit environment on both sides of the border. He also spends time bird watching and hiking. His legacy of relationship building and environmental stewardship continues.
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