Bill Blake is currently the Executive Director of the Skagit Conservation District and Chair of the
Puget Sound Conservation District Caucus. Bill’s natural resource management experience
began in 1984 when working as an Environmental Technician for Weyerhaeuser. Bill became
one of the regions many displaced timber workers allowing him to attend Skagit Valley College
where he received his Associates degree in Environmental Conservation. Bill’s job experience
includes forest road inventory with WA Department of Ecology, farm planning with Snohomish
Conservation District, habitat restoration with Stilly/Sno Fisheries Enhancement Task Force,
Field Supervisor with the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, and Natural Resource Manager and
Assistant Director of Community Development with the City of Arlington.
Bill has been a member of the Stillaguamish Watershed Council since 1993 and was Co-Chair for
twenty of those years. Bill is no longer chair but continues to attend the Stillaguamish
Watershed Council as Lake Cavanaugh and Pilchuck Creek are within his Skagit Conservation
District work area. He sits on the Skagit Valley College (SVC) Environmental Conservation
Program Advisory Board and their workforce training advisory committee. He also serves on
the Arlington High School FFA advisory board, member of the Arlington School District General
Advisory Committee for Career Technology Programs, Director at the Skagit Watershed Council,
and Vice Chair of the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council.
“My long-term personal goal has been to guide the people of Northern Puget Sound along a
path of environmental and economic sustainability. The role of the Skagit Watershed Council
provides a great opportunity to work towards that personal goal. I am a true believer that local
people working on local initiatives leads to those grassroots successes that will carry over for
generations to come.”