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09/06/2007: "Will Take Billions To Protect/Restore PS"

( Hilary Culverwell of Puget Sound Partnership addresses Friday Harbor group)

The latest effort to protect the waters of the Puget Sound took place in June of this year when the Gov. Appointed State Leaders to the Leadership Council of the PSP (Puget Sound Partnership), a new state agency charged with designing a program that will “Protect and Restore Puget Sound” by the year 2020..

The SJI League of Women Voters sponsored a trip yesterday (9-5-07) by PSP representative Hilary Culverwell, who addressed a group of some thirty interested members of the public and a number of government employees, on the background, the need for, and the purpose of the PSP.

As one might expect, there was the ubiquitous PowerPoint presentation of talking points, photos, charts and graphs; but Culverwell was obviously a seasoned presenter who used the PowerPoint show-and-tell as a background aid to her presentation, and came across as being both realistic and honest about the problem, while dedicated to working toward solutions.

There was the Bull Kelp and the marine bird examples given that showed the complexity of identifying cause and effect. There is only one area in which Bull Kelp has decreased, she said, (photo of Bull Kelp on the screen) while in other areas it has remained the same, or increased in area. But, she said, the same cannot be said for other types of flora and fauna in the Puget Sound area. And one striking example she gave is the marine bird population. 19 of the 30 marine birds found in the Puget Sound region have decreased by 20% from 1978 to 2004.




Culverwell said “one cannot completely blame the condition on the Puget Sound” for all of the declines, as example explaining that many of the birds are migratory, and so the reasons for the decline are not known; perhaps it is due to conditions in the local waters, or to other reasons, however we do know the Sound is in decline.

Culverwell told the group that funding is a major problem, and that currently there is an ongoing study to determine if a state “nonprofit” group can be set up to raise funds. Close to 400 million has been spent so far, and she said that it will take expenditures of billions if we are to have any hope of reaching the goals set by the agenda for 2020.

Culverwell told the group that “we have a lot to do, and it is a multi-billion effort. that Washington has embarked on,” comparing it to the “billions that have been spent to protect and restore the everglades, and yet there is still more to do.”

Dr. Chris Clarke asked what regulatory powers the PSP has. Culverwell said they have none, but that is being looked at, and it is expected they will have some authority over state agencies to hold them accountable. When queried as to how they would do this, she said the they may have contractual agreements with state agencies related to grants, and if they fail to perform as per the agreements, funding could be withheld.

She said that one way the PSP is different from past groups that have attempting to do many of the same things, is that the “PSP is a cabinet level organization, that has the full support of the Governor.”

Culverwell concluded her remarks by inviting anyone in the audience willing to donate hours and hours of time to contact her.