Governor wants to boost spending on Puget Sound

Despite the dour economy and state government's budget woes, Gov. Christine Gregoire wants to boost spending on Puget Sound, her signature environmental issue.

The governor's proposed budget, released last week, would increase spending on Puget Sound-related projects by roughly $51 million, for a total of $283 million in the next two years, according to the Puget Sound Partnership.

That's still short of the $422 million the partnership says it needs to start implementing it's plan to revive Puget Sound by 2020, a goal Gregoire has set.

But officials at the partnership, the state agency created to lead the recovery, say any gains are a victory in the face of cuts faced by other areas, such as education and social services.

"In extremely difficult circumstances, we are excited that the governor's budget continues to make Puget Sound a priority," Jim Cahill, the partnership's budget guru, wrote in an e-mail.

While environmentalists welcome extra money for Puget Sound, they fear that the state's overall natural-resources programs are in for a big hit.

To help bridge a projected $5 billion state budget shortfall, Gregoire's proposed general-fund budget is $3.5 billion less than what the state would need to spend to maintain current operations over the next two years.

Her budget would cut spending for natural resources by a little more than 2 percent, according to an analysis by Bill Robinson of The Nature Conservancy. The operating budget — the portion used for day-to-day functions, rather than big construction projects or land purchases — would drop by 11 percent to $451 million, a bigger percentage drop than other parts of state government, according to his analysis.

The cuts include closing 13 state parks, shutting several fish hatcheries, reducing the number of fish-and-wildlife-enforcement officers, and doing fewer environmental studies. Money in funds dedicated to environmental cleanups would be shifted to the general fund, where it can be spent on anything.

"I know the governor tried to protect Puget Sound programs the best she could," said Kathy Fletcher, executive director of the environmental group People for Puget Sound. But overall "there are some significant reductions of important little pieces."

Fletcher was pleased to see a year's worth of funding for a tug boat at Neah Bay, to prevent oil spills from broken-down ships.

But she noted there's still a one-year gap in the two-year budget. She also worried that draining money dedicated to environmental cleanup to help plug budgets holes will hurt environmental cleanups in the future.

Ecology Department Director Jay Manning, one of Gregoire's chief environmental advisers, questioned whether Robinson's budget analysis was correct. While times are tight, he didn't think natural-resources spending faced bigger cuts than other areas.

In budget talks, he said, Gregoire was clear that Puget Sound and climate change were the two environmental issues she wanted to back despite the pending deficit.

"In that context, I think this is one of her strongest statements to date for Puget Sound," he said.

Partnership officials are also turning their attention to the federal government, hoping they can tap into the rush of money set loose by the economic-stimulus package being discussed by Congress.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com