New Alliance to save Puget Sound's shorelines
May 18, 2006
Foulweather Bluff on Puget Sound
© Keith Lazelle
Saying the time to act is now, The Nature Conservancy and two leading conservation organizations launched an $80 million campaign to restore and protect Puget Sound’s ecologically rich shorelines and ensure that they’re available for people to enjoy for generations to come.
The Conservancy joined with People For Puget Sound and The Trust for Public Land to form the Alliance for Puget Sound Shorelines. This groundbreaking new partnership will work to restore and protect hundreds of miles of shoreline and create 10 new parks and natural areas along Puget Sound over the next three years.
The Russell Family Foundation awarded the newly formed Alliance $3 million to launch the campaign and begin conservation work immediately. The groups will use the gift as a catalyst to raise a total of $80 million from the public and private sector for the first three years of the program. The three-year effort will lay the groundwork for what will ultimately be a 10-year, multi-billion dollar campaign, putting the effort to save the Sound on par with other large-scale estuarine restoration projects such as those currently underway in the Chesapeake Bay and the Everglades.
“The ecologic diversity of
the Sound’s 2,500 miles of shoreline is astounding.
Life abounds here.”
David Weekes
Director
The Nature Conservancy in Washington
The Alliance is focusing on the Sound’s shorelines because of their immense ecological importance and integral connection to the health of the entire Puget Sound. Shorelines play a key role in the region’s quality of life, connecting people to an inland sea that is at the heart of the region’s cultural, social and economic identity.
“The ecologic diversity of the Sound’s 2,500 miles of shoreline is astounding. Life abounds here,” added David Weekes, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Washington state chapter. “If we want to save this remarkable inland sea, the time to act is now.”
Puget Sound’s shorelines have been in decline for years, with thousands of acres contaminated by toxins, 75 percent of the Sound’s salt marsh habitat destroyed and one-third of the shoreline altered or engineered from its natural state. What’s more, less than 10 percent of the shoreline is open to the public.
This decline in habitat has had an impact on wildlife. Of the Sound’s 18 threatened or endangered species, nine rely directly on shoreline habitat. Even the health of the region’s beloved orca whales, declared endangered last month, is connected to shorelines, because the shorelines are the basis for a food web that feeds salmon and, ultimately, orcas.
The region’s economy is also affected by the Sound’s decline. Since 1980, nearly 30,000 acres of commercial shellfish beds have closed due to contamination, and Hood Canal’s low oxygen levels resulted in a die-off of tens of thousands fish in 2004 alone.
But, civic will to protect and restore the Sound is growing, creating a time of great opportunity. Governor Christine Gregoire has launched the Puget Sound Partnership, a 16-member panel of leading citizens to develop a 15-year plan to turn the corner on the Sound’s most vexing problems.
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