In this issue:

• Action Agenda Projects Moving Forward Around Puget Sound
• Puget Sound Starts Here Launch
• Kudos to Snohomish County Council For Ban on Dense Rural Development
• Thurston County Continues Efforts to Protect Native Prairie and Oak Habitat
• Congratulations on the Port Orchard Pass Clean up

All over western Washington, plans are drawn, dirt is turning, and progress is being made toward restoring and protecting Puget Sound. Here are a few highlights.

Nisqually Estuary Restoration
$3.4 million dollars from the U.S. Department of the Interior economic stimulus funding is going toward removing a perimeter dike that holds back the natural tide, and completing the new interior dike and construction of a boardwalk.
This project will restore 762 acres of salt marsh estuary habitat, doubling the amount of estuary habitat in South Puget Sound.

Elwha Dam Removal and Floodplain Restoration
Olympic National Park will be completing nine projects thanks to $74.7 million dollars in National Park Service economic stimulus funding, to prepare for the removal of Elwha and Gilnes Canyon dams on the Elwha River. This is the nation’s largest dam removal to date. In conjunction with the dam removal, 82 acres of the floodplain of the lower Elwha River will be restored through the removal of dikes and culverts, re-vegetation, and invasive species control thanks to $2 million from NOAA economic stimulus funds and the hard work of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.

Derelict Fishing Gear Removal
Northwest Straits Commission and partners are removing more than 200 metric tons of marine debris including 3,000 nets, and will restore 600 acres of habitat in Puget Sound. A $4.5 million grant from NOAA is funding the project.

Among the other important projects that received funding from NOAA to move forward this year include the Smuggler’s Slough Nooksack River Restoration, Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration, Fisher Slough Marsh Restoration and the Hansen Creek Floodplain Restoration.

We’re pleased to announce the launch of our new public education effort with 300 organizations around Puget Sound called Puget Sound Starts Here.

Watch the TV advertisement here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqP9mFoqygM

This effort is the largest in history targeted at saving Puget Sound, and represents collaboration between cities, counties, environmental and stewardship groups, businesses, universities and more. The campaign will feature television spots geared toward educating residents about how they can change their behaviors to help save the Sound. Initially, the campaign will be focused on simple actions related to stormwater pollution reduction. The awareness campaign will be enhanced over time and further disseminated through coalition members.

For more information, please visit www.pugetsoundstartshere.org

Last week, the Snohomish County Council rejected dense residential development in rural areas.

For the full story in the Seattle Times, visit seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009825865_websnocovote09m.html

Thurston County Commissioners last July approved an interim amendment to the current Critical Areas Ordinance to increase protection for native prairie and oak habitat.

Only about 3 percent of native south Puget Sound prairie still exists, and some of the most valuable areas are in Thurston County. Wildlife considered threatened or endangered by the State of Washington (but not yet on the Federal Endangered Species List) that rely on such habitat include the Mazama pocket gopher, the Western gray squirrel and the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly.

The new amendment increases existing protections for prairie and oak habitat, and adds protections for properties connected to a larger wildlife corridor. It also updates the prairie and oak definitions to be consistent with the state and federal definitions.

Commissioners will consider public comment from a 9/15 hearing on the interim amendment this fall. If the Commissioners determine that changes are necessary to the interim amendment, that may take place this fall, and the issue will be addressed in next spring’s anticipated revised Critical Area Ordinance.

As a result of corrections of on-site sewage systems along the southwest shoreline of Bainbridge Island, 140 acres on Port Orchard Pass were upgraded from Prohibited to Approved for shellfish harvest. This is on the tails of a major upgrade in Yukon Harbor last fall, which reopened 935 acres that had been closed to shellfish harvest since the 1960s.

The openings are seen as success stories for the Kitsap Health District’s Pollution Identification and Correction Program.

 

 

Thank you for working with us to protect and restore Puget Sound!

Please visit the Web site for more information. Comments and questions may be sent by replying to this e-mail or by contacting us directly at:

Puget Sound Partnership
P.O. Box 40900, Olympia, Washington 98504-0900
Toll-free: 800.54.SOUND
Phone: 360.725.5444
E-mail: actionagenda@psp.wa.gov

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