As we head into the holiday season, we here at The Nature Conservancy are feeling enormous gratitude for our Washington state leaders in Congress who have been working for years to advance Puget Sound recovery efforts. Last week, a major milestone was achieved in efforts to advance recovery of Puget Sound, and it’s worth celebrating. Key provisions of the PUGET SOS Act passed Congress after 6 years of dogged effort by Rep Derek Kilmer, Rep Marilyn Strickland, and former Representative and current Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck, as well as persistent efforts by the region’s Tribes and stakeholders to ensure that Puget Sound gets the recognition it deserves.
Puget Sound is a special place. It’s the heartbeat of the region—our home, the backdrop of our lives, where land and water meet to create communities, economies, and an entrepreneurial spirit that draws people from all over the world. Maintaining and restoring the health of the Sound has been a decades-long effort, which incorporates restoration and pollution reduction investments that also help to make the citizens of Washington state healthier and our communities stronger.
The Promoting United Government Efforts to Save Our Sound bill (PUGET SOS) does several important things to boost Puget Sound recovery:
It recognizes Puget Sound as a nationally significant body of water under the Clean Water Act, putting Puget Sound on par with other important water bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes
It establishes a Puget Sound Recovery National Program Office within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to coordinate Puget Sound recovery efforts
It codifies the Puget Sound Federal Leadership Task Force, an agreement between nine federal agencies and cabinets, to restore the environmental integrity and sustainability of the Sound. TNC was pleased to host a press conference in 2016 when the federal agencies signed an MOU and we’re even more pleased now to see the Task Force get codified in law.
As the recent State of the Sound report notes, we have made great progress, but we still face significant challenges to restore a healthy, resilient Puget Sound. The work ahead will require new approaches to old problems, cross-sector commitments from across our region, and strengthening the role of Tribal partners in recovery actions. The challenges facing us are significant and will require difficult decisions, but together we can provide the vision and innovation that will be necessary for both people and nature to thrive.
For more information about the wide variety of work that the PUGET SOS Act will support now and into the future:
Puget Sound Federal Task Force Action Plan (2022-2026)
Puget Sound Partnership Action Agenda (2022-2026)
Featured image: Photo: Orca breaching near the San Juan Islands. Credit: Walt Kochan/TNC