Statement from Director Sheida Sahandy on the Governor's proposed 2019-2021 biennial budget

Puget Sound Partnership Washington sent this bulletin at 12/13/2018 12:16 PM PST

December 13, 2018

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

Statement from Director Sheida Sahandy on the Governor's proposed 2019-2021 biennial budget

Governor Inslee’s budget proposal revealed today demonstrates his strong commitment to recovering Southern Resident orcas, salmon, and the Puget Sound ecosystem. The ecological condition of Puget Sound came into sharp focus last summer as Talequah, one of our few remaining Southern Resident orcas, carried her dead calf on her head through a mourning journey that lasted 17 days.

Ecosystem decline is the result of thousands of decisions that have, directly or indirectly, negatively impacted our shared resources. Getting to recovery and resiliency will similarly take thousands of decisions that take us in the right direction of achieving and maintaining a thriving Puget Sound. Ongoing recovery work over the years has helped to mitigate the decline, with some very positive results, but much greater investment is needed to definitively alter course.

The investments proposed by the Governor will go far in helping us turn the corner on sustaining the Puget Sound ecosystem and the creatures we share it with. These investments align with two significant, collaborative, science-based bodies of work: the recommendations of the Southern Resident Task Force and the Puget Sound Action Agenda.

Investments in Puget Sound recovery are critical to the survival of orcas and salmon. They also boost our region’s economic vitality and agricultural sustainability, enable maintenance of our abilities to fish and recreate, and help us to ensure the quality of life that draws and keeps people to this region. These investments also support our shared obligations to the reserved treaty rights of the tribes in Puget Sound.

We hope the legislature supports and funds these critical investments.

About the Governor's Southern Resident Orca Task Force

In March 2018 Governor Jay Inslee signed Executive Order 18-02 designating state agencies to take several immediate actions to benefit southern residents, and establishing a Task Force to develop a longer-term action recommendations for orca recovery and future sustainability. To learn about the Task Force and its work, visit the Governor's website.

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 government agencies, 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.

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