The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced their continued support and vision for transformational change and accelerated progress to support the Puget Sound community—as a place, an environment, and an economy.  With a commitment of both funds and integrated strategic priorities that address environmental justice, climate change and land use, EPA is supporting strategies and actions on the ground that will accelerate getting to a healthier Puget Sound that transcends beyond individual partners.

The approach will strengthen and enable the Strategic Initiative Lead (often shortened to SIL) teams to leverage collaborative work and networks with on-the-ground implementers including those working with Local Integrating Organizations (LIOs), Tribes, and other state, local and federal partners across Puget Sound. This alignment of partners will help operationalize Implementation Strategies and put a “what, who, where, when and how” lens on Puget Sound recovery. 

To achieve this, the Strategic Initiative Leads aim to:

• Integrate knowledge, plans, capabilities, and resources to co-develop work through Implementation Strategies
• Operationalize the Implementation Strategies and engage with local experts to inform what, where, and when investments towards recovery occur
• Effectively support local programs, policies, and regulations that align with Puget Sound protection and recovery
• Work to accelerate recovery and catalyze and activate the energy and interest of external funders outside EPA funding.

What are the Strategic Initiative Leads?

Our teams span multiple agencies and institutions that work on issues related to stormwater, habitat, and shellfish.

The three SIL teams consist of collaborations between the WA Department of Ecology, WA Department of Health, and WA Department of Fish and Wildlife, WA Department of Natural Resources, WA Department of Commerce, and the Washington Stormwater Center at Washington State University.  The Strategic Initiatives are also comprised of partners within other agencies and organizations to complete the teams.

Each team works collaboratively with a wide range of non-profits, community groups, universities, businesses, social scientists, and research consortia to achieve the goals articulated through the Puget Sound Partnership’s Action Agenda, and further deepen the conversations about how to operationalize our Implementation Strategies.  The SILs endeavor to collaborate with a diverse group of people, organizations and thinkers that help us to reach beyond our own perspectives and skills.

This includes working to determine the best actions to help recovery. Actions result in projects, plans, approaches, and research carried forward by local level practitioners to improve water, habitat, and shellfish around the Sound. The work is funded through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) National Estuary Program Geographic Fund for Puget Sound.

Meet the teams!

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Habitat Strategic Initiative Lead

The Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Natural Resources (DNR) serve as the Habitat Strategic Initiative Implementation Lead. As the Habitat Strategic Initiative Lead, our role in Puget Sound recovery is to implement community-developed and supported strategies that improve the health of the rivers, forests, shorelines, and estuaries that make up Puget Sound.

Our work is focused on four main arenas: Floodplains and Estuaries, Land Development and Cover, Marine Vegetation, and Shoreline Armoring. Our goals are to be the stewards of the recovery vision for Puget Sound habitats; Integrate local and regional actions to accelerate recovery; and use EPA Geographic Funds to support strategies and grants to carry out priority recovery work across Puget Sound. Along with the other two SILs (Stormwater and Shellfish), we work with our partners to achieve our shared goals for Puget Sound habitat recovery.

Shellfish Strategic Initiative Lead

The Department of Health (DOH) leads the Shellfish Strategic Initiative,  partnering with the Departments of Ecology and Agriculture. Our team works to protect, restore, and re-open harvestable shellfish beds, ensuring shellfish safety for tribal, commercial, and recreational harvest and helping to recover Puget Sound. Our objective is to prevent and reduce pathogen pollution from human sewage, farm animals, vessel sewage, wastewater treatment plant outfalls, and surface runoff from developed lands. Our goal is to identify recovery actions that will make meaningful progress towards the Shellfish Beds Vital Sign target through participation in the Puget Sound Partnership (PSP)and National Estuary Program Management Conference processes in coordination with our recovery partners.

Stormwater Strategic Initiative Lead

The Washington Department of Ecology, the Washington Stormwater Center, and the Washington Department of Commerce lead the Stormwater Strategic Initiative Implementation Lead Team. Our team represents a diverse set of perspectives and skills which we bring to our work, adding important context for addressing stormwater and learning from our advisors and collaborators. Our team collaborates with the Puget Sound Management Conference, develops and refines and Implementation Strategies, and is adept in building creative cross-disciplinary approaches to identify gaps and opportunities associated with these strategies. We also continue to employ robust management systems and ensure that grant funds are spent on priority work to push forward Puget Sound recovery. Our team brings an innovative, adaptable outlook, and the experience necessary to successfully transition to a new phase of Puget Sound recovery work—focusing on implementation through broad engagement.

Did you know?

In the 2012 Action Agenda, the Leadership Council endorsed an approach to Puget Sound recovery that focused on three areas termed Strategic Initiatives: Habitat, Shellfish, and Stormwater. In 2016, the EPA Puget Sound Geographic Program redesigned its funding model to align with the three Strategic Initiatives and competitively awarded cooperative agreements to three recipients that would lead the work in Habitat, Shellfish, and Stormwater. These funds, over $69 million awarded, were awarded to the Strategic Initiative Leads across 2016-2020 and invested in Puget Sound recovery. Learn more about specific projects on our funded projects page!