About Us

• Who we are
• What we do
• Federal agencies' role in restoring and protecting Puget Sound
• What’s different about this new agency and its mission?
• Brief history
• Puget Sound, an Estuary of National Significance
• Help us help Puget Sound

The Partnership, which began work on July 1, 2007, is governed by a Leadership Council of independent citizens from around the Sound and is advised by an Ecosystem Coordination Board and a Science Panel. An Executive Director leads day-to-day operations and employs a professional staff including the former staff of the Puget Sound Action Team. As of Jan. 1, 2008, the regional salmon recovery functions performed by Shared Strategy for Puget Sound become the responsibility of the Partnership.

What we do
The Partnership is working with a vast array of people, groups, businesses and governments to create a long-term plan called the 2020 Action Agenda by September 2008. The Action Agenda will be informed by an independent Science Panel and it will cover the entire ecosystem affecting the Sound. The Action Agenda will:

• Identify and assign priorities to actions needed to get to a healthy Puget Sound by 2020.
• Name those responsible for the actions.
• Identify funding.

The Action Agenda will also hold all parties accountable for their actions by tracking progress and reporting the results publicly. In addition, the Partnership will launch an education effort to bring ordinary citizens, businesses and others up to speed on the Sound’s health issues and to inspire them to action. Learn more about what we do in the Our Work section.

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Norm Dicks

Federal agencies' role in restoring and protecting Puget Sound
Several federal agencies have significant environmental management, resource protection and scientific analysis responsibilities that contribute to the restoration and protection of Puget Sound. These agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service, and the Forest Service.

A report prepared on behalf of the Puget Sound Partnership last year estimated that about $116 million/year is spent by federal agencies for the restoration and protection of Puget Sound.

In 2006, the federal agencies formed a workgroup of agency managers in Puget Sound to better coordinate the work of the federal government and integrate it with the work of state agencies, tribes, local governments and others through the Partnership.

Earlier this year several agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalizing their commitment to establish a Puget Sound Federal Caucus.

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What’s different about this new agency and its mission?
If you’ve been around Puget Sound long enough, you may wonder how the Partnership differs from previous recovery efforts, such as the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority or the Puget Sound Action Team. It differs in key ways:

• The Partnership has an expanded scope of work with lead responsibility for salmon recovery in the Puget Sound basin and the duty to ensure a sufficient water supply for people and wildlife.
• The Partnership has authority to establish a 2020 Action Agenda with actions and benchmarks needed for all levels of government and watershed groups.
• The Partnership is required to oversee the work toward these priorities, with tools and the responsibility to hold entities accountable.
• The Partnership’s geographic scope is clearly expanded to include the entire Puget Sound basin from the crests of the Cascades and the Olympics to the center of the Sound.
• The Partnership has a firm deadline for its efforts—recovery of the Sound by 2020.
• The Partnership has the responsibility to collaborate with local watershed groups and work within the existing watershed framework.
• The Partnership must use independent science advice and expertise in its work.

Bill Ruckelshaus, chair of the Leadership Council, notes that getting city, county, state, federal and tribal governments to work together on Puget Sound would be a huge accomplishment in and of itself.

“But that’s not enough,” Ruckelshaus says. “We’ve got to engage businesses and citizens. This is their home, too. We’re all in this together. It’s the collaborative nature of this project that makes it so unique...and so challenging.”

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Brief history
During the 1960s and 1970s, people became increasingly concerned that the health of Puget Sound was deteriorating. In spite of its outwardly beautiful appearance, the Sound’s environment had been suffering from the effects of urbanization and development since settlers first set up steam sawmills on its shores in the 1800s. Over time, the region’s swelling population and development continued to put stress on the ecosystem.

Puget Sound Water Quality Authority. While many government agencies were involved in preserving Puget Sound’s water quality, no single entity was coordinating the entire effort. In 1985, the Washington State Legislature made a commitment to protect and restore Puget Sound by creating the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority.

Puget Sound Action Team. In July 1996, the authorizing legislation for the Authority expired. In that same year, the Legislature enacted the Puget Sound Water Quality Protection Act. Under this law, the Puget Sound Action Team, Puget Sound Council and a professional staff assumed the Authority’s responsibility.

Past efforts not enough. Recognizing that the state’s efforts of the past 20 years had not been enough, in December 2005 Gov. Chris Gregoire appointed a high-level advisory commission of 22 prominent leaders called the Puget Sound Partnership to look for answers. That advisory commission spent a year studying the scientific, geographical, political and funding issues behind the Sound’s environmental problems. The Partnership scrutinized other large ecosystem protection efforts around the country and engaged an extensive cross-section of Washington citizens, businesses, governments and tribes in recommending ways to do it better.

The Partnership presented its final report to the governor in December 2006. The recommendations included increased accountability and a new government structure, better integration of science, a long-term public education effort and a renewed focus on how to pay for the large-scale actions necessary to return the Sound to health. Read the full report or an executive summary of the commission’s work.

The Puget Sound Partnership—a new state agency. The Governor considered the recommendations and worked with the 2007 Legislature to create a new state agency with the same name as the advisory commission, the Puget Sound Partnership. The Partnership officially began work on July 1, 2007, incorporating the former staff of the Puget Sound Action Team. And as of Jan. 1, 2008, the responsibilities for regional salmon recovery performed by Shared Strategy for Puget Sound will become part of the Partnership.

>> Read the statute that created the Puget Sound Partnership
Note: You can also get more background on the 2007 legislation by reading the bill as signed.

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Puget Sound, An Estuary of National Significance
Puget Sound is one of 28 estuaries of national significance in the U.S. Each of those estuaries is part of the National Estuary Program (NEP). The NEP, run by the Environmental Protection Agency, encourages local communities to take responsibility for managing their own estuaries. The Partnership manages the NEP in Puget Sound.

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Help us help Puget Sound
The Partnership believes that whether you live, work or play around the Sound, you share an interest in a healthy, functioning ecosystem. The Partnership is committed to engage all of the region’s citizens and interests in the quest to solve the Sound’s daunting environmental problems and to preserve the Sound’s amazing natural resources.

“I’d love to start hearing people say ‘this is good for me personally as well as for my society,’” says Bill Ruckelshaus, chair of the Leadership Council.

You can help! There are many ways to get involved.

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