Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program

The Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program funds projects that protect and restore marine and nearshore habitats and ecosystems. These projects support the Action Agenda for Puget Sound and promote Puget Sound salmon recovery. The program is managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

The Environmental Protection Agency funded projects through the National Estuary Program. The program does not anticipate future funding opportunities.

Funded projects

Shoreline armoring reduction and landowner incentives

  1. Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines (MSDG) –$593,607 –Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)
    This project developed guidelines for shoreline site assessment and site-specific soft shore protection techniques.
  2. "Your Marine Waterfront" Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines Booklet – $109,940 –WDFW
    This booklet describes options for Puget Sound marine shoreline property owners in protecting their property while promoting healthy shorelines. It is based on the Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines.
  3. Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines Training and Outreach – $35,000 – WDFW
    This project provided technical assistance to local government staff, contractors and consultants, and shoreline property owners applying the Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines in shoreline management decision making and implementation.
  4. Puget Sound Feeder Bluffs Mapping –$355,500 –WA Department of Ecology
    This project produced data on the location of feeder bluffs, which provide sediment to the beach, and guidance on the significance and use of this information.
  5. Social Marketing Strategy to Reduce Puget Sound Shoreline Armoring (PDF) – $249,846 –Colehour + Cohen
    This project evaluated barriers and motivators for private shoreline landowners in choosing to remove or forgo hard armor. A social marketing and behavior change strategy was provided to entities across the region interested in implementing armoring reduction programs.
  6. ShoreFriendly.org Website Development – $100,000 – Cognition
    This project provided a web-based resource for shoreline landowners to learn about shoreline armoring, beach processes, soft shore alternatives, and incentive options. It serves as a central resource for local incentive programs across Puget Sound.
  7. Targeted Outreach to Reduce Impacts from Shore Hardening in the PSMSA– $100,178 – Northwest Straits Foundation
    This project used targeted outreach to help prevent negative ecosystem impacts that result from hardening of the marine shoreline in the Port Susan Marine Stewardship Area.
  8. Social Marketing Consultation – $5,000 – Social Marketing Services, Inc.
    This project provided social marketing consultation to support Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program social marketing strategies to reduce shoreline armor.
  9. Landowner Incentives to Reduce Puget Sound Shoreline Armoring – $312,117 – Northwest Straits Foundation
    This project worked to reduce shoreline armoring by implementing a social marketing strategy that provided incentives to landowners. Incentives included informational workshops, technical assistance visits, permit assistance, and design services.
  10. Shoreline Armoring Reduction Project Enhancement – $99,971 – Northwest Straits Foundation
    This project enhances the previous grant to Northwest Straits Foundation for the Landowner Incentives to Reduce Puget Sound Shoreline Armoring project.
  11. Incentives to Reduce Shoreline Armor in Island County – $282,371 – Island County
    This project influenced shoreline residents to adopt a "shore friendly protection" approach, and built understanding about Shore Friendly practices among County staff, realtors, consultants, and environmental educators.
  12. Enhancing Incentive Program to Reduce Puget Sound Shoreline Armoring in Island County – $99,978 – Island County
    This project enhanced the previous grant to Island County for the Incentives to Reduce Shoreline Armor in Island County project.
  13. Kitsap County Social Marketing Campaign – $365,751 – Kitsap County
    This social marketing campaign to reduce shoreline armor provided incentives to landowners including financial incentives, permit streamlining, and on-site technical assistance.
  14. Incentive Program to Reduce Shoreline Armor, Kitsap County – $100,000 – Kitsap County
    This project enhances the previous grant to Kitsap County for the Kitsap County Social Marketing Campaign project.
  15. Shore Friendly Campaign in Mason County – $330,058 – Mason Conservation District
    This social marketing strategy to reduce shoreline armor linked priority landowners to Shore Friendly resources and professional guidance in order to remove bulkheads, install soft shore protection, or improve stewardship of the nearshore.
  16. Enhanced Shore Friendly Mason – $100,000 – Mason Conservation District
    This project enhances the previous grant to Mason Conservation District for the Shore Friendly Campaign in Mason County project.
  17. Shore Friendly Campaign in San Juan County – $343,163 – San Juan County
    This social marketing campaign targeted to shoreline property owners encouraged landowners to forgo hard armor. It focused on outreach, technical assistance, training for realtors, and development of a Shore Friendly Ambassador program.
  18. Enhancing Shore Friendly Incentives – San Juans – $100,000 – San Juan Conservation District
    This project enhanced the previous grant to San Juan County for the Shore Friendly Campaign in San Juan County project.

Effective shoreline policy and regulation

  1. WRIA 9 Marine Shoreline Monitoring and Compliance Pilot Project (PDF)– $40,709 – King County
    King County surveyed 92 miles of marine shoreline to determine shoreline use. The data was used to assess changes in shoreline armoring and to document unpermitted activities. Relevant jurisdictions were alerted of compliance violations.
  2. WRIA 9 Marine Shoreline Monitoring and Compliance Project Phase 2 (PDF)– $117,460 – King County
    Phase 2 evaluated compliance rates with local and state regulations and included outreach about results to landowners and local agency planners.
  3. Protecting Nearshore and Marine Habitat in Mason County: Improving Permit Processes, Enforcement, and Public Outreach – $82,797 – Mason County
    This project focused on compliance with the County's Resource Ordinance. An outreach program helped shoreline landowners comply with existing regulations. An enforcement officer was hired to close a backlog of enforcement cases.
  4. Nearshore Permitting Effectiveness through T.A.C.T. – $246,669 –Kitsap County
    Kitsap County, San Juan County, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife implemented a trouble shooting, action planning, course correction, and tracking and monitoring approach to review and renovate shoreline permitting systems.
  5. Protecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca Nearshore – $320,179 – Coastal Watershed Institute
    This project enhanced effective shoreline regulation in Clallam County. It linked coastal physical processes, the economic values of these functions, and land use practices required to protect these functions.
  6. Protecting Ecosystem Functions with SLR and Cumulative Effects Management Tools – $151,950 –Friends of the San Juans
    This project created new technical tools and adaptive management strategies to address cumulative nearshore impacts and sea level rise within existing regulatory frameworks. Recommendations were made for policy reform at the local and regional level.
  7. Puget Sound Shoreline Master Program Improvement – $226,278 – Futurewise
    Futurewise worked with the public and local agencies to implement Shoreline Master Program updates. Goals were to ensure no net loss of fish and wildlife habitats, to protect shoreline ecosystems and water quality, and to encourage effective and efficient permitting.
  8. Support Public Awareness, Outreach and Engagement on SMP Updates – $49,456 – Puget Sound Partnership
    Puget Sound Partnership worked to increase public understanding of Puget Sound recovery challenges and impacts of shoreline management.
  9. Compliance Assessment – $39,968 – WA Department of Ecology and WDFW
    This project compiled data about compliance and enforcement of existing shoreline development regulations across Puget Sound. Recommendations were developed about effective approaches to improve compliance.
  10. Island County Marine and Nearshore Compliance Improvement Project – $107,400 – Island County
    The County worked to improve regulatory compliance along shoreline areas by initiating a permit compliance program, improving targeted outreach and education, and improving the shoreline permit process.
  11. City of Seattle Habitat Evaluations Procedures Program (HEP) – $110,920 – City of Seattle
    The City developed a Habitat Evaluations Procedures program to measure development impacts to ecological function of shoreline habitats. This will help the city more accurately assess shoreline environmental impacts and measure required mitigation.
  12. Monitoring Ecological Function with Remote Sensing – $137,124 – City of Bainbridge Island
    This project used high-resolution imagery to quantify land use and land cover change to monitor and evaluate shoreline compliance rates over time.
  13. High Resolution Change Detection-based Shoreline Master Program Effectiveness and Compliance Monitoring – $139,058 – Thurston County
    This project developed a process to evaluate shoreline vegetation and land cover change using High Resolution Change Detection data.
  14. Hydraulic Code Compliance Assurance Program Pilot (PDF) – $415,200 – WDFW and Washington Department of Natural Resources (WADNR)
    This project aimed to improve hydraulic code compliance through surveys, inspections, technical assistance, and enforcement actions along marine shorelines of Puget Sound.

Puget Sound marine issues

  1. Puget Sound Derelict Net Removal and Pilot Response – $668,360 – Northwest Straits Foundation
    The Northwest Straits Foundation coordinated removal of shallow water nets in Puget Sound. They also designed and implemented a response and removal pilot program for new and reported lost nets.
  2. Lost Net Response and Retrieval Program – $100,437 – Northwest Straits Foundation
    This project builds off the pilot project to enhance the lost fishing net reporting, response, and retrieval program.
  3. Toxic Contaminant Monitoring in Mussels – $230,037 – WDFW
    This project evaluated the geographic extent and magnitude of contamination in nearshore biota, using mussels as an indicator, and developed an expanded network of monitoring sites.
  4. Analysis of Fish Tissue for Toxics – $91,400 –WDFW
    The goal of this project was to close a funding gap to analyze two sets of fish tissue data: samples collected in 2014 (Pacific herring) and 2013 (English sole). This project measured and reported values of persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in archived tissue samples, and combined these data with existing long-term Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program contaminant data for these species.
  5. Ensuring Regulatory Effectiveness in Puget Sound's Most Special Places – $300,000 –Washington Environmental Council
    This project provided education about aquatic reserves and trained citizen stewards for five Puget Sound aquatic reserves.
  6. Citizen Science and Stewardship of Aquatic Reserves – $310,806 – WADNR
    This project supported citizen stewardship committees, which conduct education and outreach, perform monitoring and assessment, and other stewardship activities in support of six aquatic reserves in Puget Sound.
  7. 20% More Eelgrass by 2020: Restoration Site Identification and Investigating Restoration Barriers – $506,403 – WADNR
    This project developed a model to locate suitable sites for eelgrass restoration in the Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca, then tested the model at several locations with eelgrass transplants. Results include maps of potentially successful restoration sites and recommendations for priority actions regarding eelgrass restoration.
  8. Pilot Eelgrass Restoration in Puget Sound – $590,000 – WADNR
    Building on the "20% More Eelgrass by 2020" model, this project monitored the success of eelgrass plantings and gathered data at restoration sites to help understand the role eelgrass plays in buffering ocean acidification.
  9. Impacts of Outfalls on Eelgrass (PDF)– $171,760 –WADNR
    This project analyzed the water chemistry of outfalls near eelgrass beds to understand the effects of nutrients, metals, contaminants, and sediments on Puget Sound eelgrass.

Adaptive management

  1. Puget Sound Integrated Risk Assessment (PDF)– $199,500 – Puget Sound Partnership
    Puget Sound Partnership developed an integrated risk assessment, which evaluated specific pressures on the Puget Sound ecosystem (marine and nearshore, terrestrial, and freshwater) at various scales.
  2. Quantifying the Impacts of Shoreline Armoring – $380,571 –Skagit River System Cooperative
    Skagit River System Cooperative studied impacts of shoreline armoring on nearshore processes and species.
  3. Monitoring the Effects of Armor Removal in Puget Sound – $271,395 – WDFW
    This project gathered pre- and post-armoring data at select sites throughout Puget Sound. The data will help scientists understand the effects of shoreline armoring and support evidence-based approaches for armoring removal and soft-shore techniques.
  4. Analyze and Disseminate Grant Program Results – $238,235 – Puget Sound Institute
    Puget Sound Institute analyzed project results from FFY10-FF14 grants and shared the results with implementers, policymakers, tribes, and regional scientists.
  5. Analysis of Grant Program Results Phase 2 – $80,144 – Puget Sound Institute
    Puget Sound Institute will analyzed remaining grant program projects to identify lessons learned and inform adaptive management.

Oil spill preparedness and response

  1. Vessel Traffic Risk Assessment - Assessing Threats from Large Oil Spills (PDF)– $200,000 –Puget Sound Partnership
    This project assessed key threats to Puget Sound from large oil spills to identify effective management strategies.
  2. Preparing COASST Post-Spill – $57,661 – UW COASST
    The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) program expanded the bird mortality baseline dataset and trained team members who respond to oil spills.
  3. Geographic Expansion of the Puget Sound Seabird Survey and Early On-Scene Training (PDF)– $53,299 – Seattle Audubon Society
    This project expanded the Puget Sound Seabird Survey into Strait of Juan de Fuca and northwest Whidbey Island. They gathered data for future assessments of ecological damage from oil spills and trained volunteers to assess conditions at the scene.
  4. Swinomish Oil Spill Preparedness Project –$31,980 –Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
    This project developed local capacity to provide timely information to regional Incident Command and to mobilize resources after a spill.
  5. Community Engagement for Oil Spill Response and Readiness – $59,997 –Northwest Straits Foundation
    This project facilitated community engagement in oil spill preparedness and response in Whatcom, Skagit, Island, San Juan, Jefferson, and Clallam Counties.
  6. Vessel Traffic Risk Assessment Update and Trans-boundary Coordination – $174,512 – WA Department of Ecology
    This project updated the Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Risk Assessment model with 2015 vessel traffic data, analyzed high priority scenarios, and conducted outreach.

Invasive species detection and prevention

  1. Ballast Water Management Assessment– $139,943 – WDFW
    This project assessed ballast water management practices, which require vessels to perform an open sea ballast water exchange to reduce transport of coastal invasive species.
  2. Assessment of Biofouling Threats to Puget Sound– $150,580 –Portland State University
    This project evaluated biofouling-associated aquatic invasive species invasions in Puget Sound and provided priorities for a statewide management strategy. Partner: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
  3. Ballast Water and Biofouling Strategic Plans – $325,027 – WDFW
    This project conducted a gap analysis of state and federal ballast water and biofouling management regulations, then created a ballast water management program six-year strategic plan and a biofouling management program six-year strategic plan.
  4. Invasive Green Crab Early Detection and Monitoring – $171,501 – Washington Sea Grant
    This project developed a monitoring program for the invasive European green crab that utilized volunteer-based citizen science.
  5. Invasive Green Crab Early Detection and Monitoring Phase 2 – $180,000 – Washington Sea Grant
    Continued implementation of the Crab Team to monitor invasive European green crab, participate in rapid response and removal efforts and management planning.

Shoreline and estuary restoration

These restoration projects were funded by the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program and managed by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office.

  1. Brown Island Armor Removal and Outreach – $84,975 – Friends of the San Juans
    Restored feeder bluff by removing 0.03 miles of armor and restoring 0.1 acres of nearshore habitat. This restored forage fish spawning habitat and coastal processes like upper intertidal and back shore sediment, sediment source, littoral drift, and detritus potential and recruitment. This project included public outreach to share the shoreline restoration and the importance of natural beach processes.
  2. Meadowbrook (3 Crabs) Armor Removal and Outreach– $145,982 – North Olympic Salmon Coalition
    This project improved conveyance of Meadowbrook Creek through the beach berm and reduced the risk of continued dune breaching. Stream habitat was enhanced through removal of hard bank armoring and a small levee. This project removed 0.01 miles of hard armor and restored 0.1 acres of nearshore habitat. Outreach was conducted to inform the public about shoreline restoration and the importance of natural beach processes.
  3. Fort Townsend Armor Removal and Outreach – $494,403 – Northwest Straits Foundation
    This project removed roughly 1,400 cubic yards of fill and rip rap from a bluff-backed beach and intertidal area. Associated restoration of 9000 square feet of nearshore habitat occurred at Fort Townsend State Park. Outreach was conducted to inform the public about shoreline restoration and the importance of natural beach processes.
  4. Bowman Bay Armor Removal and Outreach – $250,032 – Northwest Straits Foundation
    This project removed 1,600 tons of armoring from the shoreline at Bowman Bay in Deception Pass State Park. The project restored natural sediment transport processes, improved 0.6 acres of nearshore habitat for salmon and forage fish, and improved public beach access. Outreach was conducted to inform the public about shoreline restoration and the importance of natural beach processes.
  5. Snohomish County (Howarth Park) Armor Removal and Outreach – $600,000 – Snohomish County
    This project removed 0.06 miles of hard armoring and restored 0.16 acres of nearshore habitat at the site of the Snohomish County Beach Nourishment project. This armor removal was part of a larger beach nourishment and restoration project. Outreach was conducted to inform the public about shoreline restoration and the importance of natural beach processes.
  6. Titlow Beach Park Armor Removal – $687,769 – South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group
    This project developed preliminary plans, specifications, and cost estimates to restore natural estuarine processes for Titlow Beach Lagoon. With additional funding, the project partners are using the designs and permits generated from the initial funding to remove rock and concrete shoreline armoring, as well as a house, along the beach.
  7. Seahurst Park Armor Removal and Outreach – $607,567 – City of Burien
    This project removed armor along a portion of a larger restoration project at Seahurst Park. The outcomes and benefits include six acres of estuary treated through the removal of fill material and slope regrading, half a mile of shoreline armor removed, and beach nourishment. This project included outreach, through a separate grant to the Environmental Science Center, which created an opportunity for the public to learn about shoreline restoration and the importance of natural beach processes.
  8. Skokomish Estuary Restoration, Mason County – $85,000 – Mason Conservation District and Skokomish Tribe
    This grant partially funded 6,600 yards of channel creation, 223 acres of estuary treated, 150 acres opened to fish passage through culvert modification or removal, and increased accessibility to the Skokomish River.
  9. Woodard Bay Estuary Restoration, Thurston County – $161,735 – WADNR
    This grant partially funded acquisition of two key riparian parcels in the Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area of Henderson Inlet. Near shore habitat was restored by removing creosoted material at the mouth of Chapman Bay, as well as one acre of riparian area planted and restored.
  10. Port Susan Estuary Restoration, Snohomish County – $162,450 – The Nature Conservancy
    This grant partially funded removal of 7,350 feet of existing dike and construction and/or augmentation of 5,000 feet of new dike to protect neighboring farmland. This project fully restored riverine and tidal processes to 150 acres of diked former tidal marsh.
  11. Milltown Island Estuary Restoration, Skagit County – $162,450 – Skagit River System Cooperative
    This grant partially funded restoration of 1.2 acres of wetland with plantings. It meant half a mile of dikes were removed, and 60 acres of habitat were made available to salmonids through dike or berm modification and removal.
  12. Beards Cove Restoration – $409,000 – Great Peninsula Conservancy
    This grant partially funded restoration of nearshore and estuarine habitat in Lynch Cove, at the toe of Hood Canal. The project removed fill, structures, infrastructure, and invasive plants; restored grade to historic conditions; restored side-channel habitat; and involved planting of appropriate native species. The project will include acquisition of approximately 2 acres and a 6.1 acre conservation easement donation.

Shoreline habitat acquisition

These acquisition projects were funded by the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program and managed by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office.

  1. Point Heyer Acquisition, Vashon Island – $213,333 – King County
    This grant contributed partial funding acquisition of four parcels located in the Pt. Heyer Drift Cell, adding 8.5 acres of coniferous forest uplands, 5.5 acres of marine forested feeder bluff, 7.3 acres of tidelands, and 739 feet of shoreline to the inventory of the Pt. Heyer Natural Area.
  2. Barnum Point Acquisition, Camano Island – $64,300 – The Nature Conservancy
    This grant contributed partial funding for acquisition of 48 acres (18 tideland acres and 30 upland acres) and 0.43 miles of intact shoreline at Barnum Point on Camano Island. Through a combination of fees and conservation easements, this acquisition protected an exceptional feeder bluff that supplies sediment to Port Susan Bay.
  3. Dabob Bay Acquisition, Jefferson County – $362,366 – Northwest Watershed Institute and The Nature Conservancy
    This grant contributed partial funding to acquire and protect 17.6 acres of coastal and marine riparian forest and 600 feet of shoreline along the western shore of WADNR's Dabob Bay Natural Area. It contributes to landscape-scale protection of one of the Sound's most intact estuarine and nearshore ecosystems.
  4. Southeast Lummi Island Parcel Acquisition, Whatcom County – $583,834 – Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Foundation
    This grant contributed partial funding to acquire two parcels totaling 105 acres, including 4,000 feet of high quality marine shoreline habitat located along Hale Passage on Lummi Island. Approximately 20 acres of upland and 500 feet of the property's shoreline habitat have been degraded by gravel mining activities. Acquisition of the property allows for future restoration of degraded habitat and nearshore processes.
  5. Waterman Nearshore Acquisition, Island County – $98,876 – Whidbey Camano Land Trust
    This grant contributed partial funding for acquisition of 59 acres of nearshore habitat on Whidbey Island along Saratoga Passage. The acquired area includes four parcels that total 33 acres of uplands, 2,000 feet of feeder bluff, 2 streams, and 26 acres of tidelands.
  6. Lyre River Estuary Acquisition, Clallam County – $231,329 – North Olympic Land Trust
    This grant contributed partial funding for acquisition of 2,600 feet of prime shoreline, including 24.95 acres along the waterfront and 25.56 acres of tidelands. Acquisition of the barrier and bluff-backed beach will protect the feeder bluff, vital nearshore migratory salmon corridor, and the Lyre River estuary.
  7. Maury Island Aquatic Reserve Armoring Removal – $519,216 – King County
    This grant contributed partial funding to acquire approximately 17.3 acres and 1112 feet of marine shoreline bordering the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve to benefit chinook salmon recovery. This acquisition protects eelgrass and marine nearshore and forage fish spawning habitat. The project also removes over 700 feet of shoreline armoring to reconnect 487 feet of historically exceptional feeder bluff and 213 feet of feeder bluff along Puget Sound.

Results and products

Shoreline armoring

The Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines
Guidelines for shoreline site assessment and site-specific soft shore protection techniques.

A Social Marketing Strategy to Reduce Armoring Behavior on Puget Sound (PDF)
A strategy using research-based incentives to overcome the specific barriers to reducing shore armor among key target audiences. Additional materials are available from the grant program at: PSMarineNSGrants@dfw.wa.gov

Targeted Outreach to Reduce Impacts from Shore Armor in the Port Susan Marine Stewardship Area: Program Assessment Summary Report (PDF)
Comprehensive overview and synthesis of results from a two-year outreach program in the Port Susan Marine Stewardship area.

Effective shoreline policy and regulation

Nature’s Value in Clallam County: Policy Implications of the Economic Benefits of Feeder Bluffs and 12 Other Ecosystems (PDF)
Study evaluating the economic value of ecosystem services in Clallam County, and the implications for project planning and decision-making.

The WRIA 9 Marine Shoreline Monitoring and Compliance Project (PDF)
Report and analysis of boat-based survey of 92 miles of shoreline in King County to assess the change in shoreline armoring and other shoreline infrastructure since a previous survey in 2005.

Incentives Toolkit for Shoreline Restoration (PDF)
Practical guide and incentives toolkit for shoreline landowners to assist with and to increase the use of incentives in protecting and restoring shoreline ecosystems.

Puget Sound Feeder Bluff Maps
Maps describing the character and distribution of feeder bluffs, along with other coastal landforms, for all of Puget Sound’s approximately 2500 miles of shoreline.

Puget Sound marine issues

Toxic Contaminants in Puget Sound’s Nearshore Biota: A Large-Scale Synoptic Survey Using Transplanted Mussels (Mytilus trossulus)
A Puget Sound-wide assessment of toxic contaminants in nearshore biota using native mussels (Mytilus trossulus) as indicators.

Adaptive management

Puget Sound Pressures Assessment (PDF)
Analysis of the pressures on the Sound’s freshwater, marine-nearshore, and terrestrial resources and identification of the critical ecosystem vulnerabilities that should be addressed to ensure sustainable long-term protection and recovery.

Oil spill preparedness and response

Geographic Expansion of the Puget Sound Seabird Survey and Volunteer Training for Early On-Scene Reconnaissance (PDF)
This project expanded the Puget Sound Seabird Survey geographically to improve community oil spill preparedness in regions most at-risk.

Vessel Traffic Risk Assessment 2010 Final Report (PDF)
Analysis of the risk from predicted increased vessel traffic in North Puget Sound related to expansion of the oil industry. The report quantifies the relative difference between present and future risk, and provides a basis for making decisions on what risk management measures would be beneficial.

Invasive species detection and prevention

Biofouling Assessment
This report examines the issue of marine and estuarine invasions by biofouling-mediated non-indigenous species in Puget Sound.

Effectiveness of Ballast Water Exchange in Protecting Puget Sound from Invasive Species
An assessment of open sea exchange and treatment in meeting state ballast water standards, as well as management recommendations to improve effectiveness of this technique.

Eelgrass restoration

Eelgrass Restoration in Puget Sound: Development and Testing of Tools for Optimizing Site Selection (PDF)
A set of tools to identify and test potential eelgrass restoration sites, as well as to identify stressors affecting eelgrass and other barriers to its recovery.

Spatial Evaluation of the Proximity of Outfalls and Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in Greater Puget Sound (PDF)
Report and analysis of the locations where outfalls discharge in close proximity to eelgrass beds, with the purpose of understanding the effects that nutrients, metals, contaminants, sediments and other types of loading have on eelgrass in Puget Sound.

Shoreline and estuary restoration and acquisition

The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office managed many projects funded by the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant. Project information is available at the Project Information System (PRISM) links below.

Shoreline and estuary restoration

Shoreline habitat acquisition