The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency are launching an effort to help a few regions, including the Puget Sound, deal with the effects of climate change. The Resilient Lands and Water Initiative aims to build upon existing cooperation between state, local and federal agencies in combatting the effects of global warming, such as a rise in sea levels. The Initiative focuses on four locations where the feds will "conserve and restore important lands and waters and make them more resilient to a changing climate."
In Puget Sound — and the Snohomish River watershed, specifically — officials hope to build on existing cooperation among various agencies, local authorities, tribes and non-profit groups to preserve the environment and promote "climate resilience." Mike Stevens, Washington state director for The Nature Conservancy, said, “We are living with the evidence of a changing climate. Longer and more intense winter flooding, low river flows in the summer, and rising seas are affecting both cities and farmlands in the Puget Sound region."
