ABSTRACT On the west coast of North America, representatives of several natural resource trustee agencies and several major oil companies have organized a cooperative working group named the Joint Assessment Team (JAT). To date, the JAT has (1) improved the working relationships among the trustees and oil companies, (2) discussed how each agency and company is organized and the role each plays if a spill occurs, (3) reached considerable consensus on how the trustees will interact with a company in the event of a spill, and (4) shared in the review of oil-spill response and damage assessment documents. Future goals are to (I) continue to develop the relationships between the groups, (2) develop geography-specific pre-spill NRDA planning exercises, (3) develop written agreements between trustees and industry, and (4) jointly understand the principles and applications of basic restoration methodologies and economic valuation techniques. This paper reports on the formation of a unique association between several state and federal natural resource trustee agencies and several major oil companies for the purpose of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of conducting natural resource injury and damage assessments. It discusses the impetus for formation of the group, the persons involved, the group's goals and accomplishments, and future plans.