Dept. of Natural Resources Issues Strategic Plan and Asks for Public Comment

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources issued this week its draft strategic plan for how it will steward the state’s public lands and has set meetings statewide beginning Feb. 1 to take public comment on the plan.

The agency’s plan identifies and prioritizes the agency’s activities for the next five years.

“We strongly support the proposed effort to inventory DNR programs that impact Puget Sound and to align them with the Puget Sound Action Agenda.  Every local and state government agency should be doing this,” said Dave Peeler, program director at People For Puget Sound.

“It’s a good start,” said Peeler, “but it still does not go far enough in many places.”

Peeler identified the need to establish specific timeframes for aligning DNR programs with the Puget Sound Action Agenda and identifying opportunities within the aquatic lands leasing program to prevent pollution and habitat destruction and to encourage cleanup and restoration of degraded aquatic lands. The plan should also include timelines and measurable objectives for reducing the number of outfalls and reducing toxics that impact state aquatic lands.

The plan and the background of the DNR planning process is found online here.

In the Puget Sound region, meetings will be held on:

Monday, February 1 at the Seattle Public Library Green Lake Branch, 6 pm
Tuesday, February 2 at the Bellingham Public Library Central Branch, 6 pm
Thursday, February 4 at Tacoma’s Foss Waterfront Museum, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 9 at the Port Angeles Senior Community Center, 6:30 p.m.

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Contact: Dave Peeler, (360.754.9177)

Save Our Sound. People For Puget Sound works with people for a clean and healthy Sound. Since 1991 we have protected and restored habitat through education and action. www.pugetsound.org