April 30, 2009
Protecting Puget Sound is subject of symposium
Take an afternoon next month to consider how we might protect and restore Puget Sound with two panels of some of the region’s top experts on science and policy concerning the Sound.
“A Symposium: Toward a Healthy Puget Sound” will be Monday, May 11, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at the Museum of History and Industry.
William Ruckelshaus, chair of the leadership council of the Puget Sound Partnership, is moderator.
Science panel participants will be Edward Miles, UW professor of marine affairs and an expert on the effects of climate change on Washington state; Mary Ruckelshaus, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and leader the salmon risk evaluation team; Joel Baker, chair of the science committee of the Puget Sound Partnership leadership council and a leading researcher on local marine environment issues; and Katharine Wellman, a marine resource economist whose work focuses on marine management and the economics of aquatic habitat restoration.
Panelists addressing policy issues will be Gene Duvernoy, president of the Cascade Land Conservancy; Peter Orser, a major developer of urban and suburban land; Steve Sakuma, third generation farmer in an area bordering Puget Sound and past president of Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland; and Brian Cladoosby, head of the Swinomish tribe.
Tickets cost $15 at SeattleGardenClub.org. There are a limited number of free tickets for students available by contacting Suzette De Turenne at sdeturenne@comcast.net.
The event is being sponsored by the Seattle Garden Club, the UW College of the Environment and School of Marine Affairs, Puget Sound Partnership, Seattle Aquarium, Pacific Science Center and the Alliance for Puget Sound Shorelines — a collaboration of the Trust for Public Lands, People for Puget sound and the Nature Conservancy.
“Restoring Puget Sound to good health is a complex undertaking involving understanding of the interactions among people, the land and the water,” says Dennis Hartmann, interim dean of the UW College of the Environment. “This symposium will bring together experts and stakeholders for a discussion of these issues during the formative stages of our cooperative effort to improve the health of Puget Sound.”
