Juanita Creek Homeowners Workshop
Situation
Triangle was hired by the City of Kirkland, Washington to facilitate a workshop for homeowners who live alongside Juanita Creek in Kirkland.The Juanita Creek Watershed is highly urbanized and as a result is degraded. In-stream habitat, fish and wildlife, and dstreamside conditions have all been described as "poor" and in need of considerable improvement. Because streamside landowners have a disproportionate impact on watershed quality, the City of Kirkland targeted them for a workshop on how to care for their land and the creek.
Process
In order to make recommendations for workshop topics, Triangle Associates interviewed streamside landowners, both via phone and an online survey, to better understand landowners' concerns and needs regarding caring for the creek. This information formed the basis for the workshop content.
To build relationships with local residents, Triangle facilitated a connection between local schools and the City. Juanita Elementary, the site for the homeowners' workshop, took Juanita Creek on as a spring project. Triangle provided ideas and resources for the 5th grade teachers to engage their students with creek side issues. Students took a field trip to a local park that sits next to the creek and they learned about threats to the creek.
Triangle also developed an online toolkit to be used as a resource for streamside landowners wanting to improve their property. The toolkit was developed in time for the workshop and later edited to include issues identified by landowners at the workshop.
Results
Streamside homeowners who attended the workshop learned about how to care for their land in a way that improved habitat and in-stream conditions. They also learned about the permitting process and how to work with the City to achieve their goals. Many 5th grade students (and their parents) also attended the workshop and shared some of their projects related to Juanita Creek, including posters, PowerPoint presentations, and a flyer for a work party they organized to help clean up the creek. The school has become so engaged with Juanita Creek they plan to take it on as a major project in the 2010-11 school year.
Triangle has a proven track record of successfully facilitating complex and politically charged public policy
issues. 
The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (USIECR) selected Triangle Associates to serve as national facilitator/coordinator to assist in the review of existing policies and their effectiveness in protecting American Indian and Alaska Native sacred sites.
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Triangle was hired by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to facilitate a pilot process including the EPA, the State of Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of southeast Idaho to build a working relationship for water quality standards development...
Triangle was selected to provide public meeting planning, facilitation and mediation of the Lake Ozette Steering Committee to assist this diverse group in the development of a recovery plan for endangered Lake Ozette sockeye salmon.
Triangle was hired by the City of Kirkland to facilitate a workshop and develop an online toolkit for homeowners who live alongside Juanita Creek. The Juanita Creek Watershed is highly urbanized and as a result is degraded. Triangle also involved students at Juanita Elementary who presented what they learned about the do's and don'ts of streamside living at the workshop. 