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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
01-02-2008

Salmon and Sound recovery efforts unite

OLYMPIA – Efforts to recover threatened Chinook salmon yesterday officially joined with the Puget Sound Partnership – a regional initiative under way to protect and restore Puget Sound.

The 2007 legislation that created the Partnership directs the Leadership Council, the Partnership’s governing body, to serve as the regional salmon recovery organization for Puget Sound salmon beginning Jan. 1, 2008.

The widely praised work of Shared Strategy for Puget Sound – the collaborative group that spent more than five years developing a federally approved basinwide salmon recovery plan – will be the cornerstone of the Partnership’s recovery efforts.

To lead those efforts, the Partnership has hired Joe Ryan, an attorney who has worked to solve natural resource problems, primarily in the area of water quality. President of the Washington Environmental Council, Ryan is also a member of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

“Our efforts to save salmon and restore the health of Puget Sound’s ecosystem go hand in hand,” said David Dicks, the Partnership’s executive director. “Joe’s extensive knowledge of the science and policy of salmon recovery will be instrumental as we join these two landmark efforts together.”

San Juan County Councilmember Kevin Ranker, who also serves on the Partnership’s Ecosystem Coordination Board, echoed Dicks’ praise of Ryan.

“I’ve known Joe for years, and worked closely with him as we served on the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council.” said Ranker, who co-chairs the Recovery Council. “His activism in environmental issues – particularly as they relate to salmon – will serve the Partnership well in his new role as salmon recovery program manager.”

Ryan and other Partnership staff will play a key role in providing support to the Recovery Council and the 15 watershed groups across Puget Sound actively working to recover listed salmon.

Ryan, who started with the Partnership today, is a fourth generation Washingtonian, a 1973 graduate of the University of Washington, and a 1976 graduate of the Michigan Law School. He resides in Seattle.

At the request of Gov. Chris Gregoire, the 2007 Legislature created the Puget Sound Partnership, whose mission is to oversee and restore the environmental health of Puget Sound. The Partnership is preparing an Action Agenda – a roadmap for that restoration – to be completed by Sept. 1, 2008.

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