Tag: State of the Sound

Recovery of Puget Sound species could hinge on better understanding of ecosystems

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A recent report from the Puget Sound Partnership helps us understand the difficulty of restoring the Puget Sound ecosystem. What caught my attention in the State of the Sound report was that after 20 years of protecting and restoring streams, wetlands, shorelines and estuaries, we have not increased overall fish and wildlife populations, and some remain in a downward spiral. (Our Water Ways, Nov. 3). Several reasons have been given for the disappointing findings, including ongoing habitat losses from an increasing human population in the Puget Sound region. Clearly, there […]

Puget Sound fish and wildlife populations fall short of 10-year recovery goals

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A final report on the 2020 ecosystem-recovery goals for Puget Sound outlines habitat improvements for some streams, shorelines and wetlands, but it also describes ongoing declines among fish and wildlife populations that use those habitats. The latest State of the Sound report, released this week by the Puget Sound Partnership, summarizes the status of 52 individual ecosystem indicators used to measure the health of Puget Sound. While 11 indicators point in a positive direction, suggesting that conditions are getting better for Puget Sound, 22 indicators tell us that things are […]

Puget Sound Partnership issues biennial State of the Sound Report

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The Puget Sound Partnership has released its biennial report on the most recent status and trends for Puget Sound recovery. The following is a reprint of a news release from the Partnership about its 2019 State of the Sound Report. News release October 2, 2019 Puget Sound Partnership MEDIA CONTACT: Jon Bridgman, 206.276.5309, jon.bridgman@psp.wa.gov 2019 State of the Sound Report issues a Call to Action for Puget Sound Recovery The latest biennial State of the Sound Report, released this week, stresses that “…we can still recover Puget Sound, but only […]

The State of the Sound: Looking ahead to 2020

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By Jeff Rice, Puget Sound Institute Ten years ago, then-governor Christine Gregoire set an ambitious goal to clean up Puget Sound by 2020. The talk of that time is still familiar. Puget Sound was in trouble then as it is now. Our resident orcas had diminished to dangerously low numbers and contaminants like PCBs and stormwater were well-known threats to the ecosystem. Now, with 2020 less than three years away, we are learning that Puget Sound faces even more extensive problems than Governor Gregoire may have imagined. Ocean acidification was […]