People for Puget Sound

A leisurely walk around Puget Sound could be a walk in heaven.  Imagine the sun setting and ferries coming home dotting the waterway.  You turn over a rock near the shore and uncover a family of tiny scampering crabs.  Or, perhaps you collect agates or bits of interestingly shaped driftwood for a crafting project.  Great blue heron snap up fish while perched precariously on one leg.  Then they alight in search of further bounty.

Puget Sound is truly a magnificent place, situated on an inlet of the Pacific Ocean and part of the Salish Sea.  It is home to many species of seabirds, salmon, other fish, harbor seals, Orcas, starfish, anemone and sea urchins.  You never know what may drift ashore when the tide comes in.  One of the strangest discoveries was that of a dock that came all the way from Japan after the tsunami.

Puget Sound got its name in 1792 when George Vancouver named it to honor Peter Puget, a lieutenant who joined Vancouver on the Vancouver Expedition.  “The Sound,” as it is often called by locals, includes the waters south of the Tacoma Narrows. Later the name expanded to include waters north of the Tacoma Narrows as well.

With all the natural beauty, it can be easy to forget that the Sound faces many challenges such as pollution and destruction of habitat.  People For Puget Sound are actively tackling the challenges in the hopes of restoring some of what has been lost so that future generations have something to cherish as much as they have.  Their mission statement simply says, “To protect and restore Puget Sound to health.”

For over 20 years, People For Puget Sound and the Washington Environmental Council have worked together. Though their roles were different, they collaborated to achieve some amazing results.  They “were able to help update the Shoreline Management Act, establish the Puget Sound Partnership, urge Ecology to adopt permits to curb polluted runoff, push for statewide funding for clean water projects, and much more.”

In 2012, the group transferred their policy, advocacy and grassroots work to Washington Environmental Council and its hands-on restoration work to Earth Corps.”

All in all, their goals are to protect and restore the water quality and habitat of Puget Sound as well as engage citizens to do the same.

Their vision is “a clean and healthy Sound, teeming with fish and wildlife, cared for by people who live here.”