By Sarah Titcomb
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Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY
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By Sarah Titcomb
(Photo Source: SMacAfee)Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -
Within the Central Puget Sound Region lies Kitsap County, where ROSS’s efforts are heavily focused. And this November, the area is putting on a number of events that relate directly to open space and the five regional challenges.
Celebrate the Return of Salmon
The first will be held on Saturday, November 14 on Chico Creek. Participants will be able to watch and learn about migrating salmon – a topic greatly linked to the region’s biodiversity. The event is free and will be held at two different locations.
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By Matt Chadsey
Anyone who lives in the Central Puget Sound Region can recognize that the open space around us has value. The mountains -- even just the views of them -- rivers, parks, and working lands provide benefits. However, quantifying those benefits is hard. What is the value of a rushing river, or the shade provided by a street tree on a sunny day, or a salt marsh, or wetland during a storm?
Filed under: AIR, DISASTER MITIGATION, HEALTH, WATERRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH -
The Our Green/Duwamish Team has been very busy during the project’s Listening Phase. The Listening Phase represents the first steps in the three-phase process to develop a watershed strategy for the Green/Duwamish Watershed, connecting many ongoing efforts in a more comprehensive way. The Listening Phase has included focus groups, open houses, and an online survey.
Filed under: WATERRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, SOCIAL EQUITY -
In February, I spoke at the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) Symposium at the University of British Columbia (UBC) on Planning for Resilience in the Pacific Northwest. I organized my remarks around five core principles for planning and managing land and water that I believe can help move us toward more resilient urban regions. Those actively participating in the Regional Open Space Strategy (ROSS) may find these principles familiar, they guide our process. We believe that planning with these principles will lead to a truly resilient urban region.
Filed under: DISASTER MITIGATION, WATERRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE -
This winter was short, mild, and left many mountains bare that are normally snow-capped. In response to these conditions and the potential impact on water resources, Governor Jay Inslee declared drought in three regions across Washington State last month: the north Olympic Peninsula, a large region east of the Cascades, and the area around Walla Walla.
Continue reading for the ROSS take on the current drought and a discussion on conditions in our region's watersheds.
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The Kitsap Forest & Bay Project is a landscape-level effort to conserve up to 6,700 acres of forest, wetlands and shoreline surrounding Port Gamble Bay in north Kitsap County. The Project is a once-in-history opportunity to help sustain our region's quality of life, environmental health, and economic vitality. It has the potential to shape the future of the entire Kitsap Peninsula and has been championed by a broad coalition of partners including Kitsap County, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Suquamish Tribe, Great Peninsula Conservancy, Forterra, Pope Resources and the community at large.
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
Martha Kongsgaard, ROSS Executive Committee Member and Chair of the Puget Sound Partnership, recently co-authored a guest opinion piece in the Seattle Times about Orca whales and salmon with Ken Balcomb, Executive Director of the Center for Whale Research, and David Troutt, the Director of the Nisqually Indian Tribe Natural Resources. Continue reading to learn more about this article and the difficulty of steward the survival of two endangered species, when one eats the other.
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Did you know the 8th Annual South Sound Sustainability Expo is happening this weekend? This event is a great opportunity to connect with private and public organizations whose work support environmentally sustainable practices. Learn more about the event here.
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The Washington State Legislature is considering a $50 million budget proposal to fund projects following the Floodplains by Design approach. If approved, we could see more of our local river communities taking this ecosystems approach to floodplain management. We recommend you read two local sucess stories for projects completed in Pierce and King County.
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We are delighted to share with you a new study that looks at the contribution of outdoor recreation to Washington’s economy. Here are some of the results:
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We highly recommend you read this thoughtful – and visually stunning – article about the impact of climate change on our beloved Mt. Rainier. From glacier melt to habitat shifts, the challenges of data prediction to the tension between human intervention, policy and practice, this article reveals the complexity of a changing climate on an iconic landscape.
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Have you seen this inspiring video from Green Duwamish/Central Puget Sound's Salmon Conservation and Restoration efforts? Watch "Green the Green" and be prepared to tap some deep local pride in this incredible green landscape we call home. A celebration of our open space benefits and a beautiful, compelling call to action, this 3 minute video reminds us of the important efforts we must invest in to clean and protect our watershed to maintain our rich cultural and natural heritage.
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
We are delighted to share the great efforts of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, Stewardship Partners and their Snoqualmie Valley partners for their visionary planning in the watershed. This beautiful "report card" reflects the thoughtful work they are doing to create a robust watershed plan to protect and enhance their forests, farms and rural lands that make up 96% of their land and provide essential ecosystem services for the entire Puget Sound region.
Filed under: AESTHETIC, AIR, COMMUNITY, CULTURAL, DISASTER MITIGATION, EDUCATION, FOOD, MATERIALS, PLAY, SHELTER, TRANSPORT, WATER, WORKRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
Issues like open space planning and salmon spawning don't often find their way onto late-night comedy programs. Frankly, we'll admit, we take the work we do pretty seriously. But when we saw this on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, we knew we had to take a moment to share it with our friends and colleagues. We hope you enjoy the video as much as we did.
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -
Ryan Mello, Executive Director of the Pierce Conservation District and Tacoma City Councilman is our first guest contributor in a series that highlights 2014 successes in open space and visions for 2015. Among other things the PCD has more than 60 years of history of providing agricultural assistance in the Puyallup watershed – one of the biggest producers of food in our region.
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Our region, the Central Puget Sound, is in the midst of a highly progressive and innovative regional planning effort to conserve and enhance the open space systems that provide direct inputs to the ecological, economic, social, recreational and aesthetic vitality of our region.
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Trees have a special place in our hearts and a productive place in our community. In urban areas, trees help us filter the air, manage heat island effects, and they are correlated with improved roadway safety and human health. Seattle ranks among those cities with a high percentage of urban tree canopy, but keys in on where there are major differences between neighborhoods. As we look at the link between open space and key regional challenges, the ROSS will investigate how different communities benefit from our natural system and how to address these disparities.
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It has been a busy summer for us here at the ROSS. Not only have we been hard at work on our open space services work and entering into an agreement with King County and the City of Seattle for the Green-Duwamish WOSS you may have read about earlier this month, we’ve also been developing a new website.
Filed under: AESTHETIC, AIR, COMMUNITY, CULTURAL, DISASTER MITIGATION, EDUCATION, ENERGY, FOOD, HEALTH, MATERIALS, PLAY, SHELTER, TRANSPORT, WASTE, WATER, WORKRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
Monday, September 9, marked a seminal moment in open space planning, as King County and the City of Seattle, in the presence of community groups, natural resource agencies and local news media, announced plans to develop a Green/Duwamish Watershed Strategy.
Filed under: AESTHETIC, AIR, COMMUNITY, CULTURAL, DISASTER MITIGATION, EDUCATION, ENERGY, FOOD, HEALTH, MATERIALS, PLAY, SHELTER, TRANSPORT, WASTE, WATER, WORKRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
ROSS is in the planning stages of work for its next Watershed Open Space Strategy: the Snohomish. And thanks to the pioneering work of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and a number of other ROSS partners, there is already a solid foundation of watershed-scale planning to build from.
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