The FABs were "given up" by Bill Wilkerson as part of the Spirit of Port Ludlow. Essentially, he agreed the tribes that we would just "talk out" issues. The FAB, when Boldt set it up, was a technical dispute settlement process. An FAB had the State, the particular tribe, and the court appointed Chair. At the meeting, the two sides would present their technical arguments and the Chair would give his opinion. The losing side could take it to Federal Court, but the Court-appointed Chair's opinion would carry significant weight.

The state, especially WDF, regularly prevailed. Wilk agreed with the tribes that we didn't need a confrontational process.