A group of concerned scientists met in Friday Harbor yesterday to talk about the decline of the Puget Sound orca population and how the health of the salmon population and the Sound impact orcas.  According to an article in the Kitsap Sun, the group thought that people might be activated to save the Puget Sound ecosystem as they come to understand its impact on salmon and orca.  The orca population in the Sound has declined by 7 this year, dropping it to the lowest since 2003. 

On Friday, the Institute for Washington's Future and the Sno/Sky Agricultural Alliance, a farming group that promotes cultivation of biofuel crops, each received a ceremonial check from the USDA Rural Development division for grants that are helping to build a forward-thinking biofuel infrastructure in Snohomish and northern King counties.  

We wrote last week about the Draft Action Agenda that the Washington State government-led Puget Sound Partnership developed.  This week, a private nonprofit organization, People for Puget Sound (PPS), called for people to actively make our voices heard.  "The Partnership’s Action Agenda is a golden opportunity to carry out a recovery plan that is accountable, effective, transparent and decisive with sustained funding that will restore this national treasure to health by 2020." 

They would like us all to weigh in.  It will take a few minutes but far less that a couple hours volunteering on a political campaign took last month and we were glad to do that. 

1) Read or skim through the Draft Action Agenda on the PPS Website.

2) Take a look at the PPS's thoughts about what to focus on:

A group of local Snohomish County organizations, working together as the nonprofit, Qualco Energy Corp., has developed a biomass digester, designed to consume waste from local dairy cows, prevent runoff into local streams and provide electric power to local utilities.  The plant has been built south of Monroe in the Tualco Valley between the Skykomish and Snoqualmie River floodplains.  The digester is processing manure from 1600 cows from three local dairy farms. 

The Puget Sound Partnership released a draft Action Plan last week to save Puget Sound. The Action Plan is a roadmap for protecting, restoring and cleaning up the Sound.  The report starts with an analysis of the state of the Sound now.  It's not good.  From a press release, the Partnership gives the details:

Last month, Michael Pollan, author of the book, “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”, wrote a thoughtful letter (well, really a long article) in the New York Times to the man who would be elected President.  He talks about the issues impacting our food system.  He says food policy will wind up occupying much of the new President's time, not something that has been the case almost anytime in the past.  He says we are about to be reminded that "the health of a nation’s food system is a critical issue of national security".