Cooperating to Restore the Yakima Basin: An interview with Phil Rigdon
8 | IRRIGATION LEADER
In this interview with Irrigation Leader Editor-in-Chief Kris Polly, Mr. Rigdon discusses the Yakama Nation’s natural resources management work, its projects to restore local waterways and replenish local aquifers, and his experience partnering with irrigation districts in the region.
Kris Polly: Please tell us about your background. Phil Rigdon: I’m an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation. I grew up on the reservation. My background is in forestry: I have a bachelor of science in forest management from the University of Washington and a master of forestry from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In 2005, I came in out of the woods, where I was the fuels manager, and took charge of the Department of Natural
PHOTOS COURTESY OF YAKAMA NATION'S DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES.
P
hil Rigdon has over two decades of experience in the Yakama Nation's Department of Natural Resources. and today is the department’s superintendent. He has been involved in numerous regional and intertribal initiatives, including the Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative, the Yakima River Basin Watershed Enhancement Project Workgroup and Conservation Advisory Group, the Washington State Columbia River Policy Advisory Group, the Intertribal Timber Council, and the Hanford Natural Resource Trustee Council. In recognition of his commitment to cooperation in managing the water resources of the Yakima basin, Mr. Rigdon was the 2018 recipient of the Washington State Water Resources Association’s (WSWR A) Water Resources Leadership Award for excellence in water resources management.
