For immediate release: Puget Sound Partnership to serve key role in Southern Resident Orca Task Force

NEWS RELEASE
March 15, 2018

MEDIA CONTACT: Cathy Cochrane, 360.790.7958, cathy.cochrane@psp.wa.gov 

Puget Sound Partnership to serve key role in Southern Resident Orca Task Force 

OLYMPIA—Governor Jay Inslee has tapped the Puget Sound Partnership and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to serve a key role in supporting the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force, which he established yesterday by Executive Order. The Task Force will identify needed policies and programs, recommend priority actions to recover orca and Chinook salmon, highlight budget needs, and recommend legislation.The Executive Order directs the Puget Sound Partnership and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to provide the experts and staff to support the work of the Task Force.

“The role of the Partnership has always been to bring together everyone working on Puget Sound recovery, to collectively figure out what needs to be done next, interpret the data that’s coming in, identify successful strategies, and celebrate and replicate the victories,” said Sheida Sahandy, Executive Director of the Partnership. “That’s our everyday work, and is also the expertise we bring in supporting the Task Force.”

The Partnership’s technical and policy expertise aligns with the Task Force directives included in the Executive Order, which address, among other things, salmon recovery and removing toxins from the marine environment. Healthy salmon runs are a critical component of orca health. The Partnership’s Leadership Council serves as the regional organization directed in state statute to plan and guide salmon recovery in Puget Sound. The Partnership also has long recognized polluted stormwater runoff as a major source of contamination to the marine environment and a threat to orcas. Partnership staff routinely advocate for projects and policies that will reduce such pollution. In addition, Partnership staff are involved in oil spill prevention efforts throughout Puget Sound. Oil spills are also considered major threats to orcas

Stephanie Solien, vice-chair of the Partnership’s Leadership Council, and Thomas “Les” Purce, former president of The Evergreen State College, will co-chair the Task Force. Ms. Solien’s background includes serving as strategic advisor to numerous state and national leaders.

The Executive Order also directs the Partnership to take immediate action, in collaboration with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office, to demonstrate how Chinook recovery projects benefit Southern Resident orca recovery. The Partnership co-manages the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration Program with the Recreation and Conservation Office. The state legislature appropriates money for the program every 2 years in the Capital Budget, and the funds support projects to protect and recover salmon habitat in Puget Sound.

“I am very glad to have Governor Inslee’s ardent support as we redouble the collective effort to save our resident orca and Chinook salmon,” said Ms. Sahandy. “This Executive Order and the orca recovery Task Force send a strong signal to the nation of the collective will and determination the State of Washington brings to bear in saving our orca and salmon from extinction.”

About the Puget Sound Partnership

The Puget Sound Partnership is the state agency formed to lead the region’s collective effort to restore and protect Puget Sound. Working with hundreds of governments, tribes, scientists, businesses, and nonprofits, the Partnership mobilizes partner action around a common agenda, advances Sound investments, and tracks progress to optimize recovery.

For more information, go to www.psp.wa.gov.