February 22, 2006

By KATHY FLETCHER
People for Puget Sound

On Dec. 19, Governor Gregoire announced her initiative to save Puget Sound. She called for an aggressive effort to restore the Sound to health over the next 15 years, and appointed a blue-ribbon “partnership” to help her.

What’s wrong with the Sound, and what needs to be done?

Despite its shimmering surface and scenic shorelines, Puget Sound is sick. The orca whales that call the Sound home have become so depleted in numbers that they have been officially declared endangered. Hood Canal, a jewel-like inlet on the west side of the Sound, has “dead zones” during certain parts of the year, due to pollution from septic systems. Toxic chemicals contaminate the sand and mud at the bottom of Elliott Bay in Seattle and other urban bays around the Sound.

So many of the Sound’s original salt marshes and natural beaches have been obliterated by development that fish, birds and other wild creatures can’t find enough of the places they need to eat, rest, hide or breed. Massive urbanization and suburban sprawl have paved over the landscape, preventing water from seeping into the soil and causing pollution to flow into the Sound and its tributary streams and rivers. Seabird populations are plummeting, and nearly every species of fish is now scarce.

Oil spills foul the Sound all too often, and the risk of a catastrophic spill looms large every day, as oil tankers and other large ships ply the Sound’s waters.

Puget Sound is dying a death of a thousand cuts.

None of these problems is new. In the 1980s, a previous governor launched a major effort to save the Sound. But there was little political stomach for the actions that would have prevented the dramatic decline we then witnessed in the 1990s. Now, with more than a million additional people living around the Sound, serious problems have become urgent, and warning signs have become a crisis.

It’s not rocket science to save the Sound. Cleaning up our toxic sites, keeping pollution out of the Sound, preventing oil spills, and protecting and restoring the Sound’s shorelines are all within our technical know-how. We can bring back the salmon and the whales. We can make sure the Sound’s clams and oysters are safe to eat, and we can make it possible for our grandchildren and theirs to enjoy the Sound decades from now.

What do we need?

Political courage. Governor Gregoire has stuck her neck out on this. Congressmembers Norm Dicks and Jay Inslee and King County Executive Ron Sims have already signed on to her Puget Sound Partnership. Many additional legislators, mayors, county elected officials and other leaders are showing — through their actions as well as their words — that they are willing to do what it takes to save the Sound. But they will all need lots of reinforcement from the public for the long-term effort that’s required.

Serious money. Puget Sound provides millions of dollars of value to our economy every year. Just the shellfish harvest accounts for about $100 million. Add to that the value of having whales to watch, fish to catch and clean water to paddle and swim in, and the true value may well be in the billions. But unless we invest in the Sound, it can’t continue to invest in us. Developers, the oil industry and others need to pay more to protect the Sound. But all of us need to help. In Maryland, every family is paying just a little bit extra on their sewage bill or septic systems to create a significant pot of money to save Chesapeake Bay. We could do something like that here.

Nobody’s against saving the Sound, or at least nobody would ever say that. But if we look the other way, by our inaction we could see it die.

There are ways for everyone to help:

• Get active. Join People For Puget Sound. Let your elected officials know that protecting the Sound is important to you.

• Learn more about the Sound. Take your kids or grandkids out on a beach at low tide and appreciate the amazing creatures that still call Puget Sound home, in spite of it all.

• Be Sound-friendly in the products you buy.

• Drive less; leave or plant native vegetation in your yard.

• Get your hands dirty. Devote a few hours or a few days to volunteering for the Sound by restoring some habitat or cleaning up a beach.

Puget Sound is a treasure that will provide a multitude of benefits for centuries to come if we give it half a chance. Let’s be the folks that save it.