Research
Early findings from the benchmark
Benchmark Aggregate
What do 50 restoration portfolios look like when federal and state data are assembled into one picture? The aggregate below reports population medians — no individual organization is identified. The same instruments are applied to each organization individually in a real engagement.
Key Findings
Across 50 Pacific Northwest restoration organizations:
- Approximately 80% show at least one structural portfolio conflict.
- Funding burden and institutional burden are distributed independently across the sector.
- The portfolio complexity score captures structural demands that a simple grant count misses.
The two systems that load work onto restoration organizations do not see each other. The correlation between portfolio structural complexity and institutional recovery commitments is effectively zero.
Read the Full Paper
Portfolio Complexity in Ecological Restoration — methodology, findings, limitations, and implications (5,800 words).
Methodology draws on portfolio risk theory (Qu 2019), institutional capability research (Andrews et al. 2017), and information credibility frameworks (Cash et al. 2002). Full references in the paper.
Five Pressures, One Desk
The hatchery question, treaty rights, angler frustration, a federal funding cliff, and competing accounts of what is happening. A companion essay on the operating environment (~1,500 words).