Supporting Puget Sound Recovery at the Local Scale
The Challenge
Puget Sound ecosystem recovery requires sustained coordination across multiple jurisdictions, each operating within distinct statutory and regulatory frameworks. Local Integrating Organizations (LIOs) must unite diverse stakeholders—Tribal governments, counties, cities, utilities, conservation districts, agricultural and shellfish representatives, and community groups—around shared recovery priorities while navigating complex federal and state funding mechanisms.
Our Role
Ross Strategic serves as LIO coordinator for the Alliance for Healthy South Sound and the Puyallup-White River LIO, facilitating collaborative planning and implementation across jurisdictional boundaries. We led multi-disciplinary teams that developed both the South Sound Strategy (2014-2015) and the Puyallup-White River LIO Ecosystem Recovery Plan (2020-2021), creating actionable roadmaps that align stakeholder priorities with funding opportunities.
The Impact
Our direct coordination role provides Ross with exceptional insight into how state and federal voluntary funding programs function in practice, including implementation challenges, disconnects between project sponsors and local planning efforts, and opportunities to strengthen the funding-to-implementation pipeline. This ground-level perspective informs our strategic consulting across the environmental sector, ensuring recommendations are grounded in operational reality.