SEATTLE - Today, Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation and Woodland Park Zoological Society formally signed an historic agreement that officially shifts the zoo’s City management and operations to the Zoo Society, the zoo’s nonprofit fundraising partner. The officials at the signing were Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Ken Bounds; Zoo Society Board Co-Chairs Bill Lewis and Maggie Walker; and Zoo Society Executive Director/CEO Dave Towne.

Under the 20-year agreement, the zoo will remain under City ownership and the Society will manage it under a contract. The City will continue to provide public funding, including the $2.5 million earmarked for the zoo each year for the next seven years by the Pro Parks Levy.

The transition to nonprofit management has been in the works since 1995. The 50-member Zoo Commission II appointed by then-Mayor Norm Rice was charged with crafting recommendations on the future of zoo funding and operations. The Commission, after concluding that the dual-management system is cumbersome and duplicative, recommended unified management by the WPZS under a contract with the City. Former Mayor Paul Schell accepted the recommendations and directed City staff to work with the WPZS to develop the agreement.

The agreement brings Seattle in step with other zoos around the country that have moved to nonprofit management. Nationally, about 60 percent of city-owned zoos are run by nonprofit boards or governing bodies. Shifting management of the zoo to the Zoo Society paves the way to merge two organizations under a single-management structure; stimulates the flow of more privately donated funds for exhibit updates and education programs; and helps propel Woodland Park Zoo toward fulfilling its Long-Range Plan (LRP), which will continue to advance and maintain this state-of-the-art zoo exhibitry, and aim to set a new standard on how people use the zoo.

“This landmark partnership between the Zoo Society and Seattle Parks and Recreation represents the city’s commitment to help preserve the zoo as a cherished community resource for many generations to come,” notes Zoo Society Board Co-Chair Bill Lewis, “and enables the zoo to focus more on its core mission of conservation and education.”

“We now have an agreement that fully protects the public’s interest, gives the Zoo Society the financial flexibility and resources it needs to operate a top-notch zoo, and holds us all accountable for making sure the zoo succeeds,” says Parks and Recreation Superintendent Ken Bounds.”

The next step is the updated Long-Range Plan, which Seattle City Council is expected to take up in early April. The updated LRP is a 20-year physical development guideline that preserves the essential exhibit design guidelines from the original plan, which generated world-renowned recognition for the zoo. The update includes course corrections to respond to changing conditions, increased visitation, neighborhood issues, and new standards of animal care and welfare not foreseen when the original 1976 plan was adopted. LRP 2002 will place more emphasis on the zoo’s core mission of conservation and education; the needs of the more than 1 million annual visitors to the zoo and its members; the needs of the zoo’s employees and volunteers; and the impact on the zoo’s surrounding neighborhoods. The updated plan proposes to address these needs through expanded education facilities, improved visitor services and amenities, efficient workspace for employees, increased on-site parking and enhanced special events support. New physical developments include completion of long-needed facilities for jaguars, wild dogs and tigers.