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. 

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:

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:

The new California Academy of Sciences building in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco is one of the most unique buildings in the world.  The Academy, which houses an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum and research institution, is housed in a building with a living roof that features 1.7 million plants and 7 hills. 

The latest Sunset magazine has a spread with some gorgeous photos.

"The Academy's new home is expected to be the world's largest public LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum building. An innovative solar canopy will generate up to 10 percent of its energy; portholes let natural sunlight into the exhibits and also open and close for ventilation."

Thirty years ago the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission was established to manage the natural resources the Tulalip, Stillaguamish and Sauk Suiattle Indian tribes needed to be able to continue their traditions.  According to an article on the commission in the Everett Herald, "More than 30 years later, the commission is a regional leader in environmental research and activism."

The commission released its annual report this week.  The highlights of the report are:

"Habitat mapping: Less than 20 percent of the region's seabed has been mapped with regard to marine species and habitats. A project between the commission and other agencies will result in a comprehensive Geographical Information System database that could be used to produce maps of geological features, habitat hazards and other information.

The PI notes that the Lehrer NewsHour had a piece the other day on the stormwater problems in the Puget Sound region and what King County is starting to do about it.  I saw the NewsHour piece and it was pretty good.  It highlighted the very few developers who have realized that it is pretty easy to do the right thing.  They did find one developer, as the PI said, who "said using low-impact building techniques to handle stormwater had actually saved her money".  It was also very nice looking.