The purpose of this study was to conduct a nationwide assessment of state-level environmental education (EE) organizations to determine the components that are essential to the establishment and success of these organizations. E-mail surveys were used to collect data from North American Association for Environmental Education state affiliates, and Ruskey & Wilke's State-Level Comprehensive EE model was reorganized to add the dimension of time, and highlight the components most important for success. The outcome was a flexible, three-stage model for sequential, state-level EE organizational development. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)