The Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission was established by a 1984 Treaty between Canada and the U.S. It is based on an Agreement between the City of Seattle and the Province of British Columbia to settle the controversy over the High Ross Dam proposal.

In 1942, Seattle City Light negotiated an agreement with the Province to raise the dam by 120 feet which would have flooded over 5,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat and recreation lands in BC. The Agreement was upheld by the Provincial Government in 1967 but generated intense opposition. Lengthy negotiations ensued.

In the 1984 Treaty, Seattle City Light agreed not to raise Ross Dam for 80 years in exchange for power purchased at rates equivalent to what would have resulted from raising the dam. The High Ross Treaty also created the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission (SEEC) to manage an endowment fund to preserve the area, pristine wilderness and fish and wildlife habitat in the Upper Skagit Watershed until 2065.

(For a selection of photographs taken by City Light in the Upper Skagit Watershed between 1919-1989, visit http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~archives/skagit/s_exhibt.htm )

• SEEC's Vision and Mission
• 2006/7 Awards
• BC Ministry of Environment's Fish and Wildlife Management Plan public consultation meetings info...
  Download the DRAFT Management Plan here (1.4 MB PDF)
  
• North Cascades NPS Invitation to Participate in Ross Lake Mgmt Plan.
  Download the info PDF here.