We're pleased to report the prime sponsors of the 2007 legislation that created the Partnership - Rep. Dave Upthegrove and Sen. Phil Rockefeller - have secured an additional $23.9 million in the final 2008 supplemental budget for state agencies to work on Puget Sound recovery.

And to maximize scientific review and public input, the budget also allows the Partnership three additional months to finalize the Action Agenda by December 1, 2008.

The additional funding will ensure the Partnership has the resources and time needed to develop a bold Action Agenda while still meeting the timetable for the 2009 legislative session. It now awaits the governor's signature.

The new deadline provides the opportunity for additional public input as we develop the Action Agenda. Over the next few weeks, we'll be looking at the schedule for topic forums, review of technical work, and action area meetings to make the most of our extra time. We plan to have a new schedule available as soon as possible - and we thank you for your patience!

   Community workshops across the Sound lay the foundation for
    the Action Agenda.

You should be able to hear the buzz - people who care about the Sound are really starting to talk to each other in each of our seven action areas. Local watershed groups, conservation organizations, governments, tribal representatives and many others met in the last two weeks to coalesce their ideas about Sound status and threats, their ongoing efforts to protect and restore the Sound and their hopes for what a coordinated Sound-wide approach, grounded in ecosystem science, can do.

Partnership workshops in each action area drew enthusiastic people, from scientists to live-aboard boaters. These workshops also launched our broad-based community conversations about what's going on and how people can help. Workshop materials and summaries are now available online.

Find out more about what's happening in your area, including our upcoming March 20 workshop in Friday Harbor, by reviewing our schedule and meeting materials.

Technical work under way promises to provide what we have never had before - integrated, Sound-wide assessments of Puget Sound health, threats and actions to protect and restore all aspects of the ecosystem. Building on solid local work done in the action areas, guided by our Science Panel, and staffed and reviewed by our region's best minds, Sound-wide technical information is being compiled, analyzed, mapped and communicated.

All of this technical work will be vetted scientifically and shared on an ongoing basis throughout the action areas for input. Our goal is broad ownership and understanding of technical objectives and results, and we are on track to achieve that.