News from the Puget Sound Partnership

MEDIA CONTACT
Katy Johansson
360.725.5442
katy.johansson@psp.wa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12-11-2007

Puget Sound Partnership announces upcoming meetings

OLYMPIA – Two groups critical to the Puget Sound Partnership’s task of restoring the environmental health of the Sound will hold meetings in the coming days.

The inaugural meeting of the Partnership’s Ecosystem Coordination Board will be held from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, at the Federal, 876 S. 333^rd St. Way Community Center

The Board’s main role is to advise the Leadership Council, the Partnership’s governing body, as it crafts a plan to protect and restore Puget Sound.

The Leadership Council, chaired by Bill Ruckelshaus, will convene from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17, at Maple Hall, 104 Commercial, in La Conner.

Directions to the meeting locations and complete agendas can be accessed on the Partnership’s Web page at http://www.psp.wa.gov/get_involved/calendar/meetings.htm. Both meetings are open to the public.

The 27 Ecosystem Coordination Board members, selected in October, represent specific interests around the Sound.

Representing the Action Areas of the Partnership:

· Steve Tharinger, Clallam County Commission (Straight of Juan de Fuca)

· Bob Kelly, Nooksack Tribe (San Juan Islands)

· Gary Rowe, Skagit County Administrator (Whidbey Island)

· Steve Bauer, Kitsap County Board of Commissioners (North Central Puget Sound)

· Ron Sims, King County Executive (South Central Puget Sound)

· Dan Wrye, Pierce County (South Puget Sound)

· Teri King, Washington Sea Grant (Hood Canal)

Representing business interests:

· Samuel Anderson, Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties

Representing small-business interests:

· Bill Dewey, Taylor Shellfish

Representing cities:

· Jeanne Burbidge, Federal Council Way City

Representing counties:

· Kevin Ranker, San Juan County Council

Representing environmental interests:

· Kathy Fletcher, People for Puget Sound, Puget Sound Environmental Caucus

· Jacques White, The Nature Conservancy, Puget Sound Environmental Caucus

Representing federal agencies:

· Robert Lohn, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

· Tom Eaton, Environmental Protection Agency

· Ken Berg, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Representing state legislative caucuses:

· Sen. Dale Brandland, R-42^nd District

· Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-23^rd District

· Rep. Christine Rolfes, D-23^rd District

· Rep. Bob Sump, R-7^th District

Representing port districts:

· John Calhoun, Port Angeles Commission Port

Representing tribal governments:

· David Troutt, Nisqually Tribe

· Randy Kinley, Lummi Nation

· Dave Herrera, Skokomish Tribe

Representing state agencies:

· Jeff Koenings, Director, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

· Jay Manning, Director, Washington State Department of Ecology

· Doug Sutherland, Commissioner of Public Lands, Washington State Department of Natural Resources

A Board chair and vice chair have yet to be named, but a discussion of that process is on Friday’s proposed agenda.

At the request of Gov. Chris Gregoire, the 2007 Legislature created the Puget Sound Partnership, whose primary task it is to prepare an Action Agenda by August 2008 for the restoration of Puget Sound. Both the Leadership Council and Ecosystem Coordination Board will be instrumental in that process.

07-015

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