Agency: 478 - Puget Sound Partnership

This activity provides strategic leadership and management oversight of the day-to-day operations of the agency. The activity includes executive management, financial services, communications, and external relations functions. This activity supports the three statutorily created Partnership Boards: the Leadership Council, the Ecosystem Coordinating Board and the Science Panel. Staff also ensure other decision-makers who are critical to Puget Sound recovery remain well-informed and understand the complexity of the issues and the actions underway to sustain Puget Sound.

This activity oversees and implements a shared science-based system of measurement, monitoring, and analysis used to evaluate effectiveness of specific project types as well as progress toward the collective Puget Sound recovery effort. Information on ecosystem conditions is generated through implementation of the biennial science work plan, which describes the research, monitoring, and modeling needed to guide recovery efforts. This data informs the prioritization of implementation strategies, revisions to the Action Agenda (the shared roadmap for Puget Sound recovery), and key policy decisions. The performance management aspect of this activity includes tracking, analyzing, and reporting on progress of Action Agenda implementation and status of 2020 recovery targets set by the Leadership Council. Progress is reported in the biennial State of the Sound report.

This activity facilitates technical and financial assistance to plan and catalyze the priority recovery actions of local integrating organizations and salmon recovery watershed groups. The Partnership facilitates the participation of local integrating organizations in prioritizing and catalyzing local near-term actions for the Action Agenda by supporting the development of local recovery plans. It helps establish a consistent approach to recovery planning so the most strategic and effective ecosystem recovery efforts are identified and implemented first. The Partnership is also the state designated Puget Sound salmon recovery organization and supports 16 watershed areas within the Puget Sound region. It assists local decision makers to develop, update, and implement federally-approved Chinook and steelhead recovery plans, as well as coordinating region wide salmon recovery implementation reporting, monitoring, and adaptive management. Through these functions, local barriers to recovery implementation are addressed by working with partners to find regional solutions.

This activity works with partners (state, federal, and local agencies, tribal governments, and non-profit organizations) to create a prioritized list of actions and strategies to achieve ecosystem recovery targets through a shared plan called the Puget Sound Action Agenda. Much of this work is coordinated through the efforts of the Partnership’s statutorily created boards: the Leadership Council, Ecosystem Coordination Board, and the Science Panel (and their respective sub-committees). This function also works to align systems supporting the recovery effort to create an environment most conducive to funding and implementing the Action Agenda.