In 1992, Jack Shipley, an avid conservationist, and Jim Neal, a long-time log-ger, began talking about ways to overcome the gridlock over land management in the Applegate watershed in Oregon, where environmentalists, agencies, and the timber industry all were in conflict. Together, they wrote a short paper outlining basic tenets of their plan, such as responsible extraction, no clearcuts, and no pesticides. Shipley solicited comments from environmental groups and natural resource management agencies and Neal similarly approached industry interests. They found that everyone was concerned about maintaining the long-term health of the watershed and the stability of local economies. Encouraged by this apparent common ground, Shipley and Neal organized a meeting in October 1992 with neighbors, representatives from industry, community groups, land management agencies, and several local environmental organizations to discuss a plan to make the Applegate watershed a demonstration site for ecologically and financially responsible resource management; thus, the Applegate Partnership was born (Shipley 1995).