Dear partners,
This new issue of Making Waves highlights stories about the importance of building and maintaining partnerships to make progress on key issues related to Puget Sound recovery. Partnerships are built with trust and communication and maintained over time through open collaboration and mutual respect. Events like Puget Sound Day on the Sound this past fall and the upcoming Puget Sound Day on the Hill can help build these types of partnerships. The stories in this new issue of Making Waves show how collaborative work helps drive recovery efforts.
At the start of 2024, we look forward to a new year of collaboration with our partners and shared collective effort. Please join us at this year’s Puget Sound Day on the Hill to forge new partnerships, strengthen existing ones, and work creatively to accelerate Puget Sound recovery.
Point Ruston’s transformation from polluted smelter site to waterfront destination
Ruston, near Tacoma, was the location for a massive copper and arsenic-producing smelter operation for almost 100 years. Ruston and the northeast part of Tacoma were shaped by the smelter and its pollution, and the subsequent cleanup and redevelopment of the area have transformed Point Ruston into a bustling destination for folks throughout the South Sound.
Puget Sound Day on the Sound
Representatives from federal and state agencies, Tribes, and local governments convened in Tacoma on Tuesday, Oct. 10 for the third annual “Puget Sound Day on the Sound” event. Over the course of several panel discussions, participants spoke about opportunities to better coordinate and align resources to accelerate Puget Sound recovery and support Tribal treaty rights.
2023 Science Panel comments on science and policy
The Puget Sound Partnership’s Science Panel expanded on its comments in the 2023 State of the Sound report in a letter about science and policy.
Making Waves Conversations: Nora Nickum on her new book, “Superpod: Saving the Endangered Orcas of the Pacific Northwest”
This episode of Making Waves Conversations features an interview between Laura (Blackmore) Bradstreet, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership, and Nora Nickum, senior ocean policy manager at the Seattle Aquarium and author of books and magazine articles for kids. In the interview, Laura and Nora discuss Nora’s new book, “Superpod: Saving the Endangered Orcas of the Pacific Northwest;” orca recovery; and what it takes to make scientific information accessible for all readers.
Puget Sound Geographic Program funds at work
The National Estuary Program and the Puget Sound Geographic Program have provided key funding for hundreds of projects throughout the Puget Sound region. Our new video highlights a few of the people and projects that are putting that funding to work and making a difference to the health of the Puget Sound ecosystem.
Clearing the road for salmon recovery: 6PPD-quinone and mitigation solutions
6PPD-quinone, the byproduct of a chemical added to automotive tires to keep them from breaking down, is lethal to coho salmon. People and organizations throughout the region are working hard to figure out how to control 6PPD-quinone pollution and remove it from stormwater runoff.
