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Draft report on potential actions to Recover southern resident orcas open for comment

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Draft report on potential actions to Recover southern resident orcas open for comment

Submitted by Puget Sound Partnership

Gov. Jay Inslee’s Southern Resident Orca Task Force has received a draft report of potential recommendations (see below) for actions to recover Southern resident orcas. The draft recommendations were generated by the three working groups that advise the task force and focus on the following topics:

· Lack of prey

· Toxic contaminants

· Disturbance from noise and vessel traffic

The public is invited to comment on the draft report, which provides the context for the work of the task force and lists the possible actions identified and recommended by the working groups. Comments must be submitted no later than midnight, Oct. 7, via the task force online public comment portal at governor.wa.gov/orcareport. For those unable to access the online portal, comments may also be submitted by U.S. Mail to:

Puget Sound Partnership

ATTN: SRKW DRAFT REPORT

326 East D St

Tacoma, WA 98421

Next steps: Public comments received on this draft report will be provided directly to the Task Force for consideration at its meeting on Oct. 17-18. Details about all task force meetings can be found on the governor’s website. Task force members themselves also have the opportunity to delete, recraft, or add recommendations. The final report of recommendations is due to Inslee on Nov. 16. The timeline is posted on the governor’s website.

Learn more on Inslee’s webpage for the task force at https://www.governor.wa.gov/issues/issues/energy-environment/southern-resident-killer-whale-recovery-and-task-force.