PORT TOWNSEND — A town meeting to hear from the public on what steps need to be taken to improve the health of Puget Sound, Hood Canal and the Strait of Juan de Fuca will be held Thursday.
The Port Townsend forum is the second of six community meetings this month — the slogan is “Save Puget Sound: A Call to Action”‘ — sponsored by the Puget Sound Partnership.
The partnership is a new team of elected officials, business, tribal and environmental leaders appointed by Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Charged by the governor with creating a new and aggressive 15-year action plan to protect and restore Puget Sound — which includes the Strait and Hood Canal — the group is seeking local input, information, ideas and solutions to the waterway’s problems.
Thursday’s public meeting will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in The Commons at Fort Worden State Park.
“Puget Sound is in jeopardy — and it’s up to us to act,” the partnership said in a statement.
“Salmon, orcas, marine birds and bottom fish are going extinct.
“Some shellfish are unsafe to eat, and beaches are closed to contamination.
“A dead zone is growing in Hood Canal.”
The partnership is headed by former EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus, tribal leader Billy Frank Jr. and state Ecology Department Director Jay Manning.
The group is expected to deliver its recommendations to Gregoire in November so the governor and lawmakers can begin preparing implementing legislation in 2007.
