Governor Christine Gregoire

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire has shown herself to be an advocate for Puget Sound, but her affection for the Sound began when she was a child. She grew up in Auburn, Washington, and she and her mother would spend time on the beaches of the south Sound. In 2006, Governor Gregoire created the Puget Sound Partnership, a state agency created to work collaboratively with all levels of government, tribes, businesses, and citizen groups to restore and preserve the health of Puget Sound. She won passage of a $42 million investment package to address the Sound's most critical short-term needs. The Governor is co-chair of the Partnership, and is actively involved in creating a plan that will restore the Sound by 2020 - an ambitious, but necessary task. "We can't afford to fail. We can't. Not only does our culture and our heritage depend on it, our economy depends on Puget Sound." The Governor realizes that cleaning up Puget Sound is going to involve cooperation not just from community and business members, but from everyone who lives here. "The number one solution to the problem of Puget Sound is the citizens living in and around it."