| David Troutt, natural resources director and council chair of the Nisqually River Council cited EKO-System - a Web-based, integrated project management, database, and reporting system designed by Poulsbo-based Paladin Data Systems specifically for natural resource managers - as “a key tool to provide public accessibility, transparency and the results of our successes” during his presentation at the invitation-only White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation in Missouri. The Council, which was also honored for its achievements by the United States Department of the Interior in a recent ceremony, was one of just 30 conservation organizations asked to speak at the conference in recognition for their excellence and leadership in cooperative conservation.
The White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation was organized under a directive from President Bush to strengthen shared governance and citizen stewardship of the country's natural resources and is only the fourth such conference to be sponsored by the White House in U.S. history. Conference attendees included more than 1,200 leaders from federal, state, local, and tribal governments, as well in academia, the non-profit environmental sector, and other influential leaders from across the country.
The Nisqually Indian Tribe, one of the partners in the Nisqually River Council, has been using EKO-System since March to help manage its ongoing natural resource management work and monitoring in the Nisqually watershed.
“EKO-System is the tool we have been looking for that is helping us pull all of our data into one place and make it easily accessible for us and our project partners, funders, and the community,” said Jeanette Dorner, salmon restoration supervisor for the Nisqually Indian Tribe. “By sharing information in a way that is accessible to all it makes it easier for us to accomplish our goal of protecting and restoring our watershed's health and to share information about our progress with everyone.”. |
