2026-2030 Action Agenda

The 2026-2030 Action Agenda was approved by the Puget Sound Partnership's Leadership Council on June 3rd. After adopting the plan, the Leadership Council submitted it to the EPA and requested that the Action Agenda be approved as the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan for the Puget Sound National Estuary Program. The Action Agenda Explorer was updated with the new content of the adopted 2026-2030 Action Agenda.

Read the press release | Download the Action Agenda | Visit the online Action Agenda Explorer

What is the Action Agenda?

A screenshot of the Action Agenda front cover. A mountain and trees is surrounded by water and framed by a blue and orange box.

The Action Agenda is our region’s shared plan for protecting and restoring the Puget Sound ecosystem. It identifies the most urgent threats to our waters, lands, and communities, and outlines the strategies and actions needed to address them.

Hundreds of partners, including federal, Tribal, state and local governments, nonprofits, universities, and businesses use the Action Agenda to guide funding, policy, research, and restoration efforts across the region.

The Action Agenda is also the Puget Sound’s Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP) and fulfills our statutory mandate and purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Estuary Program (NEP).

Why do we need the Action Agenda?

Puget Sound is the second largest estuary in the United States and is home to over 5 million people with their own needs and priorities. The region also includes thousands of other species and plants, living alongside marine waters, wetlands, cities, rivers, farmlands, forests, and mountains.

Over the last 200 years, the Puget Sound ecosystem has been significantly altered by development, pollution, degraded habitat, and other pressures. Despite decades of recovery efforts, progress has been unable to keep up with these challenges.

Puget Sound recovery is a long-term effort that must balance the needs of each person, species, and ecosystem to create a healthy and thriving home for current and future generations.  

In 2007, the Washington State Legislature created the Puget Sound Partnership to lead the effort recover Puget Sound through a strategic and science-based Action Agenda “that addresses all of the complex connections among the land, water, web of species, and human needs.” (RCW 90.71.200).

The Action Agenda is our shared roadmap for recovery. It includes a vision of a healthy and resilient Puget Sound, the actions needed to get there, and how we’ll measure our progress. It also helps our partners prioritize and focus on the recovery projects that will have the biggest impact.

How is the Action Agenda used?

Strategies and Actions

The Action Agenda identifies the region's highest priorities for protecting and restoring Puget Sound. It organizes these priorities through Strategies and Actions, which describe what needs to happen to achieve our desired outcomes.

You can learn more about the Action Agenda’s strategies and desired outcomes in our Action Agenda Explorer. 

Commitments

Our recovery partners support the Action Agenda by making Commitments. These are the projects and activities used to help carry out one or more Actions. We track these Commitments in the Puget Sound Implementation Plan and update their status at the start of each state biennium.

Measuring Progress

We also measure progress in two ways:

  • Progress Indicators track whether the Strategies and Actions are being implemented and whether they are reducing pressures on the ecosystem.
  • Vital Signs measure the overall health of the Puget Sound ecosystem over time. As the Progress Indicators improve, we expect to see positive changes in the Vital Signs.

Together, these help us understand what’s working, what needs to be improved, and how our recovery efforts are progressing.

How is the Action Agenda developed and updated?

The Action Agenda is developed through collaboration with federal, Tribal, state, and local governments, and private organizations. We review and update the Action Agenda periodically to make sure we are still focused on the most pressing recovery priorities.

During the development of the 2026-2023 Action Agenda, we:

  • Consulted with each of the 19 federally recognized Tribal governments in the Puget Sound region throughout the update process.
  • Hosted workshops with subject matter experts from across the region to review and improve the Strategies and Actions.
  • Worked with community-based organizations through interviews and workshops to help us better reflect community priorities in the Strategies and Actions.
  • Aligned the Action Agenda with Local Actions Plans created by the ten Local Integrating Organizations.
  • Invited feedback on the first and second drafts from the recovery community and the public during two public comment periods.
  • Coordinated with the EPA to meet NEP requirements.
  • Worked with all four of our boards throughout the process to ensure the Action Agenda was guided by science, aligned with salmon recovery efforts, and supported our partners’ recovery efforts.

Stay updated

To stay updated on the work to implement the Action Agenda, sign up to the Puget Sound Partnership newsletter.

 

Last updated: 08/06/26

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