Shared Strategy for Puget
Sound:
Nonprofit Leads Collaboration on a Landmark Plan for Salmon Restoration
Nearly seven years ago, federal officials listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon under the Endangered Species Act. Throughout the Sound, 22 populations of Chinook are at “high risk” of extinction. Between 11 and 15 populations have already disappeared.
In response, Shared Strategy has produced a regional plan developed by hundreds of stakeholders in 14 watersheds extending from Mount Rainier to the Canadian border. Local governments, farmers, tribes, environmentalists and developers — groups that are often on the opposite sides — came together to develop something that would work for them all.
The "shared strategy" they developed is something that will work for all affected interests, including cities, counties, farming, forestry, Indian fisheries, environmentalists and federal agencies.
The 4,000-page plan proposes to help restore salmon runs by protecting wetlands and flood plains, retooling hatcheries and dams, and restoring feeding grounds. The plan, which would cost $ 120 million a year for the next decade, will require changes in development, agriculture, fishing, logging, and just about every other aspect of life in the 14 watersheds.
Any collaborative process is bound to have gaps, and some of the watershed plans are more comprehensive than others. Some had more participation than others. The National Marine Fisheries Service is now reviewing the plans and public comments.
Shared Strategy’s grassroots effort moved the region toward a broad and workable blueprint for salmon recovery. Stay tuned. This may be a model for other regions to follow. For more information, see Shared Strategy’s web site.