BILL REQ. #:  H-4477.1 

Read first time 01/23/08.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Congress mandates and funds the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative, a conservation and restoration program serving the Puget Sound in northwest Washington state, with the charge of establishing community-based marine stewardship, conducting citizen-driven scientific studies on marine species and their habitat, and restoring marine habitat; and
     WHEREAS, The Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative is an innovative, important, and successful program that provides a valuable service to the health of the Puget Sound by creating and executing locally significant projects designed to protect, preserve, and restore marine and nearshore habitat, by educating and engaging the public in marine conservation, and by fostering and disseminating sound science to inform project creation and policymakers; and
     WHEREAS, The Puget Sound is a vast and beautiful estuary, one of the largest in the United States, a complex living ecosystem, home to a range of critical marine and anadromous wildlife, a cornerstone of the Pacific Northwest economy, and heart of the Pacific Northwest heritage;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress continue to mandate and fund the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative to protect, preserve, and restore the environmental health of the Puget Sound.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce.