If we are going to restore Puget
Sound by 2020, we all know it is going to take making some tough choices.
But that is not all — it will also take
a lot of people, doing a lot of hard work. Which is why, this legislative
session, I'll be requesting legislation to Put People to Work, Cleaning
up Puget Sound.
I've proposed the establishment
of a Puget "SoundCorps," a program that would hire young people
and returning veterans to put them to work doing Puget Sound
restoration projects.
You may not know that over 40% of
the land in the Puget Sound basin is managed, owned or regulated by the
Department of Natural Resources. That is a lot of responsibility — a
responsibility I take very seriously. I believe that with this bill, we can
harness federal grant funding that would provide more hands to do tough
jobs like removing bulkheads, restoring habitat at toxic-sediment clean-up
sites, assisting with the removal of forest roads that pollute streams, and
more.
As a scientist, I am also excited to
announce that we would be able to recruit young people and veterans
with training in fields like biology, hydrology, and geology, using
some SoundCorps teams as a
training ground for the next generation of northwest natural resource
scientists.
Unemployment in Washington is at a
nearly unprecedented high, and young people and returning veterans are bearing
more than their fair share of the burden. This is why, in the coming year, I
look forward to working with you to put more boots on the ground, and more
waders in the water to clean-up Puget Sound.
