Workgroups are collaborative communities, often within an organization that complete efforts
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Local Governments are a tessellated and sometimes overlapping collection of local public institutions that provide for the governance of local resources by local populations. Local jurisdictions are delegated powers by the Province (in Canada) or State (in the USA). Some of these are "general purpose governments" such as Counties or Districts, and within these Municipalities for urbanized populations. By contrast "special purpose districts" or Special Districts provide for narrower purposes, such as facilitation of trade (ports), management of natural resources (conservation districts), or management of infrastructure (utility districts or flood and drainage districts). Together Counties, Districts, Cities, and Special Districts provide the most locallized scale of political power in the Salish Sea.
Local Governments are broadly responsible for governing Land Use, Transportation infrastructure, and policing powers, regulated by state and provincial law, and thus have tremendous effects on the health and evolution of the bioregion. While local governments are importantly defined in the wiki as Workgroups (groups of people with a common aim), they are also describe places within which these local workgroup have authority to levy taxes and create and enforce codes and regulations, using taxation and policing powers delegated by the state. This creates some complexity in describing Place. In general, on this platform, Places use a specific and socio-ecological framework while sub-divisions of Nation State authority are treated separately. Thus other pages concerning Workgroups, Efforts, or Products may be categorized both by Place and by some division of government (typically District or County). Similarly, and specific Places and Local Government workgroups may also be cross-categorized to show the relationships.
Counties and Districts
Counties and Regions are subdivisions of states and provinces, respectively, established with a wide range of authorities.
Municipalities
Municipalities are incorporated within a County or Region to meet the needs of urbanized communities.
Special Districts
Special districts are established both in states and provinces to complement general purpose local governments.
- Conservation Districts
- French Slough Flood Control District
- Island Conservation Corps
- Islands Trust
- Mason Conservation District (MCD)
- Port of Everett
- San Juan Island Conservation District
- Snohomish Conservation District
- Snoqualmie Valley Watershed Improvement District
- Special Purpose Districts
- Thurston Conservation District
- Whatcom Conservation District
Local Sub-Categories
Generally categories are established for Counties (USA) and Districts (Canada) as a matter of practice, but municipal categories are created based on need.
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