Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Recovery

The Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project (PSNERP) is a comprehensive assessment of Puget Sound’s 2,500 miles of shoreline to understand how humans have impacted the nearshore zone – our beaches, bluffs, inlets and river deltas - and what opportunities exist to improve the health of the nearshore zone and its ability to support biological features humans value such as shorebirds, shellfish, salmon, orcas and great blue herons.

As a partnership between the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), staff and many partners have worked since 2001 to complete the feasibility phase of a Corps General Investigation study of Puget Sound’s nearshore zone. The Corps’ recognition of the importance of Puget Sound and its nearshore zone can bring Federal funds to Washington State to complete projects that will restore the health of the nearshore zone.

The Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program (ESRP) is a grant program developed in 2006 that is based on the principles developed by PSNERP and rooted in the scientific foundation of process-based ecosystem restoration.  The ESRP grant program is a cooperative initiative between Washington State’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation Office, and Puget Sound Partnership.

Together, the PSNERP and ESRP, along with work focused understanding shoreline armoring in Puget Sound, make up WDFW’s Nearshore Section.