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When Lynn Best ’69 joined the utility Seattle City Lights in 1982, her team faced a direct challenge: assessing the environmental, cultural, and financial impacts of its three dams that generate electricity on the Skagit River in northwestern Washington. Impact. As the acting director, she persuaded Citylights to allow the environmental team to lead the negotiation.
“Of course,” Best said, “the biggest problem is protecting the salmon on the river.” Four types of salmon are known to spawn at different times and depths. The team relies on science to determine the optimal flow rate and slope, putting the health of these species first, above electricity demand. Because this work was done in collaboration with state and federal agencies and local tribal communities, these partner groups signed the method, which is the first time this has occurred in a large hydropower project. The fish reacted immediately. Close friends and pink salmon have restored their historical abundance.
The efforts of City Light have not been ignored. In 1992, a senior member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stated that the utility’s Skagit River project was the most comprehensive public interest work he had ever seen. According to Best, if you dig hard enough, there will be a variety of science-based solutions. In her experience, at least one of these answers can benefit all stakeholders. This is a lesson she learned while majoring in biology at MIT.
Of course, errors can also occur. About ten years ago, the dam gate failed to open properly, causing many salmon nests to be drained of water. This time, as the head of environmental affairs for Seattle Citylights, Best and her now larger team reported violations to their partners. She said that the tribal community “does not advocate any punishment, which is unheard of in that situation”. This proves how effective her method of cooperation is.
In 2005, under Best’s leadership, Seattle Citylights became the first U.S. utility company to achieve carbon neutrality. Recently, during her tenure as the organization’s chief environmental officer, she advocated an environmental justice program to protect and support diverse and economically disadvantaged communities.
Best retired from Seattle Citylights in early 2020. She is currently a member of the Skagit Environmental Endowment Committee, dedicated to protecting the Upper Skagit environment on both sides of the border. She also spends time bird watching and hiking. Her legacy in relationship building and environmental management is enduring.
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