News from the Puget Sound Partnership

MEDIA CONTACT
Toni Droscher, Interim Media Contact,
360-725-5453
toni.droscher@psp.wa.gov

Ron Shultz, Acting Executive Director
360-725-5470
ron.shultz@psp.wa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
08-14-2007

Leadership Council seeks public input on �Action Area� proposal

The Leadership Council of the Puget Sound Partnership is looking for input on a proposal to identify Action Areas in Puget Sound, as required by state law. The deadline for public comment is 5 p.m., Aug. 27.

The Action Areas will be a key link between local work on Puget Sound and the work of the Partnership.

Individuals, as well as local governments, tribes, businesses and others will come together within these Action Areas to identify local actions that will help recover Puget Sound by 2020.

Staff from the Partnership developed the proposal after reviewing 74 letters, e-mails and meeting transcriptions from an initial public comment period from July 17 through Aug. 3. This proposal is based on the guiding principles from the statute, the Leadership Council and those who offered comments.

The purpose of the first comment period was to get the public’s initial thinking on how best to determine Action Areas in the Sound for developing the 2020 Action Agenda. The Partnership provided background and maps that described and illustrated the many ways that communities, governments and other organizations have already divided Puget Sound.

Now, thanks to valuable input from the public, Partnership staff have further narrowed the Action Area boundaries and will offer their recommendations and rationale to the Leadership Council at its next meeting Aug. 30-31, at the Kitsap Conference Center, 100 Washington Ave., in Bremerton. The Council is expected to decide on the boundaries at this meeting.

The state law establishing the Partnership and the seven Action Areas did not define the boundaries but did name the following seven general areas:

Strait of Juan de Fuca
The San Juan Islands
Whidbey Island
North Central Puget Sound
South Central Puget Sound
South Puget Sound
Hood Canal

The Partnership proposal actually names six Action Areas, combining North Central and South Central Puget Sound. Staff also recommended changing the name of the “San Juan Islands” Action Area to “Georgia Straits” to more accurately reflect the proposal, since this area would include the San Juan Islands and part of Whatcom County. Another change would be to rename “Whidbey Island” to “Whidbey Basin” to more accurately reflect the area that extends beyond Whidbey Island proper.

Determining the Action Areas is a significant initial step in developing the 2020 Action Agenda, the state’s plan for restoring the health of Puget Sound. Once defined, each Action Area will have one representative on the Partnership’s Ecosystem Coordination Board, one of the entities that will help shape the Agenda. The Partnership’s proposal does recommend that the combined Central Puget Sound Action Area would have two representatives.

To view the Partnership staff’s recommendations and maps, visit www.psp.wa.gov/actionareacomments. This section also includes links to all the input from the first round of public comments as well as summaries of those comments.

The Council will hear additional public comment at its Aug. 30-31 meeting. However, time for this type of input at the meeting will be limited. The Partnership staff encourages written comments for the Aug. 27 deadline.

For more general information on the Action Areas, visit www.psp.wa.gov/actionareas.

A full agenda listing the time for discussion about the Action Areas and the public comment period will be available on Aug. 23. View details at http://www.psp.wa.gov/get_involved/calendar/meetings.htm.

The Puget Sound Partnership is a state agency established in 2007 to lead efforts to protect and restore Puget Sound and its spectacular diversity of life, now and for future generations. Learn more at www.psp.wa.gov or download the Puget Sound Partnership Fact Sheet at www.psp.wa.gov/facts

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