Adopted February 9, 2000
Revised June 2004

1. Membership in the Skagit Watershed Council is open to associations; corporations; not-for-profit organizations; and public agencies that desire to affiliate with the Council and that subscribe to its purposes. The Council operates through a committee structure and conducts its business by consensus at monthly membership meetings held on the second Wednesday of each month.

2. Membership is initiated by completing a Membership Form. Active membership is achieved through participation in the affairs of the Council at both the committee and Board levels. Active membership is maintained through regular participation. Only active members take part in decision-making. The individuals and/or their alternatives that have been designated by member organizations to serve as their representatives on the Council are expected to attend the monthly meetings and their particular committee meetings. These individuals are responsible for keeping their organizations informed about the activities of the Council.

3. Standing Committees include: Restoration and Protection and its sub-committees Project Review, Combination Project, Protection, Feasibility and Monitoring; and Research.

4. The governing body is the Board of Directors, which consists of from seven to ten members. These are elected positions with three-year terms. The Nominating Committee presents the slate of candidates for the Board of Directors to the members in August of each year and the election is held in September. The Nominating Committee is constituted in July of each year and serves through the September Council meeting.

5. Council committees operate with a set membership of no specific number. Membership in these committees is open to all active members. Only active members participate in decision-making. The meetings are conducted under the basic rules for consensus decision-making laid out in section 8 below.
For the Board, a quorum consists of 4 to 6 members in good standing, depending on the number of Board members. For the other committees, a quorum consists of two-thirds of the set membership.

6. The committees undertake the primary, substantive work of the Council. The Committee Chairperson (or designee) makes committee reports and recommendations regarding specific issues at the regularly scheduled monthly Council meetings. Committee chairs, with the help of staff, ensure that the efforts of their committees are consistent with the mission and goals of the Council.

7. Committee chairs present, within a time frame mutually established with the Council Chair, how recommendations were arrived at. Council members should recognize that there is insufficient time to discuss each recommendation in the same amount of detail as was discussed by the Committee. If certain Council members require more detailed information than can be conveyed in the allotted time, they should request that a decision be postponed and seek a meeting with the chairperson and/or other committee members before the next scheduled monthly Council meeting. Council decision on the recommendation will be deferred for one month to enable this meeting to occur. A quorum for monthly meetings is two-thirds of the members-in-good-standing.

8. Following discussion, the Council will, by common agreement, act on the recommendation in one of four ways: 1) accept it as presented; 2) modify it in a way that is acceptable to all; 3) reject it; or 4) send it back to the committee for further work. The Chair may call for a show of hands to ascertain where the body stands on a particular issue.

9. If there is no agreement on which course of action to follow or if Council members need to further discuss the issue, action on the recommendation is deferred to the next meeting. If, at that meeting, agreement is still elusive, the Chair asks if the concern is strong enough to block acceptance of the recommendation. If it is, the recommendation will be tabled until changed circumstances warrant it being reconsidered.

10. If an issue of a substantive nature rises from the floor (as opposed to coming through one or other Council committee) at a monthly Council meeting, it is handled as follows: 1) The topic is introduced in the form of a motion; 2) the motion requires a second to indicate a broader interest in the topic; and 3) only members in good standing can make or second such motions. The Council Chair designates a time frame for discussion, which then proceeds as for any other Council business.