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Select Forum on Restoring Puget Sound:
Thank you for inviting me here today and welcome to the great State of Washington - in particular, to the Puget Sound…
And welcome to this event, which I believe will be looked upon in the future as a turning point in our collective efforts to protect and restore the Puget Sound. As many of you know, three years ago I proudly signed a state-federal agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers establishing the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project. The Nearshore Project has grown and expanded and now I co-chair, along with Col. Deborah Lewis, the Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership to provide broader, stronger coordination across a variety of issues related to the Puget Sound Nearshore.
The strength of the partnership, absolutely, has been the collaborative and collegial efforts across Federal, State, Local, tribal governments, and local watershed groups such as Lead Entities. And critical to that effort, and I know similar efforts around the country, has been the support and involvement of non-profit organizations or non-government group (NGO's).
We have spoken at the length in the Nearshore Project about the need for a "visible center" for our broader efforts to recover Puget Sound. But the complexity of the Sound's problems, and the complexity of our government's jurisdictions make it extremely difficult to provide a simple, easily understood symbol of our collective roles and responsibilities.
I'm convinced that the "visible center" - that definition of our effort - has to come, not from Government, but from the citizens and residents of the watersheds and communities around Puget Sound that enjoy the privilege of working, playing, and living next to this natural wonder.
I'm proud to have partnered with the Russell Family Foundation to sponsor this event, and I'm especially pleased that seven different regional NGO's, (many of whom are subtle, but historic competitors), pull together to convene this summit.
When we offered to sponsor this event, there were, of course, strings attached. We wanted the sponsors to report back to us on the results, conclusions, and recommendations from the summit. Now, I'd like to attach additional strings:
My agency has taken a wide view and has also been sampling various fish populations for toxin levels throughout the Sound. In southern Puget Sound, resident king salmon are showing elevated levels of toxins compared to their cousins that leave freshwater and go directly to sea. The problem has grown to the point that human health concerns about eating resident king salmon are being actively debated for the first time in the history of Puget Sound.
We need to make Puget Sound once again "fit for a King" and I believe we need a "visible center" to make that happen. That "visible center" could be the NGO's that are centered in and around Puget Sound.
People change behavior, not because the government says so. They change because people like themselves, their neighbors tell them it's a good idea. Citizens talking to fellow citizens - that's the ticket.
For my part, I'll consider how "government", or at least my little piece of it - the Department of Fish and Wildlife - can best serve you with science, with funding, with technical support, with administrative, management, and policy support, or whatever else is needed that we can provide. Because I believe this task is too big and too complex for us to accomplish any other way but together.
Thank you.
A Meeting with National Experts
Seattle, Washington
September 14, 2005
remarks by Jeff Koenings, Ph.D.
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