FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 3, 2026
MEDIA CONTACT: Katie Love, 564.250.0925, katie.love@psp.wa.gov
OLYMPIA – Today, the Leadership Council adopted the 2026-2030 Action Agenda for Puget Sound, our region’s bold, science-based, and solution-oriented roadmap for restoring and protecting the Puget Sound ecosystem. It identifies the most urgent threats to our waters, lands, and communities, and lays out the coordinated strategies we and our partners will implement to drive measurable recovery.
“The Action Agenda reflects the best ideas of people working toward a healthy and vibrant Puget Sound region,” said Mindy Roberts, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership. “By identifying priority issues and solutions, we’re ensuring that federal, state, local, and private resources effectively drive restoration and protection through a united recovery strategy.”
The Puget Sound Partnership leads the collaborative process to update the Action Agenda, bringing together hundreds of Tribal governments, agency leaders, scientists, community advocates, environmental organizations, and natural resource businesses. The result is a shared, unified vision built on diverse expertise and lived experience.
“The Partnership has engaged our Tribal partners and a diversity of stakeholders to help create this shared blueprint for Puget Sound recovery,” said Kate Dean, vice chair of the Leadership Council and director of policy at Washington State Department of Natural Resources. “It’s inspiring to see so many people attend workshops, present their work to our boards, share a public comment, or participate in meaningful Tribal consultation. The Action Agenda reflects how much our dynamic region cares about the future of Puget Sound.”
Building on previous Action Agendas and progress toward recovery, the 2026-2030 Action Agenda for Puget Sound directs the recovery community’s attention to 20 priority topics. Together, these priorities accelerate progress toward healthy communities, sustainable land use, resilient habitats, clean water, and harvestable shellfish.
Despite growing pressures such as population growth and climate-related impacts, where sustained investments and political will have been built, the ecosystem is improving. There is still time to protect and restore Puget Sound, but doing so will require focusing limited time and resources on these priority topics representing the region’s most urgent challenges.
The Action Agenda has been sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final review and approval.
To download the Leadership Council-adopted draft, visit this link. To explore the Action Agenda online, visit Puget Sound Info.
About the Action Agenda
The Action Agenda is the region’s shared plan to restore and protect Puget Sound. It fulfills our statutory responsibilities under state law, federal requirements established under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act, and the accompanying Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) guidance developed by the EPA National Estuary Program. Under state law (RCW 90.71.260 and RCW 90.71.310), the Puget Sound Partnership must develop and regularly update the Action Agenda for the Washington State Legislature. The Action Agenda must meet federal requirements and policies so it can serve as Puget Sound’s CCMP. By meeting these dual mandates, the Action Agenda provides a central roadmap for Puget Sound recovery—aligning state priorities, federal requirements, and the collaborative work of partners across the region.
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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