Recovery plan for orcas: $50M, 30 years
Saving Puget Sound's orcas from extinction will mean protecting 2,500 square miles of waterways, the possible regulation of whale watching, redoubling efforts to recover salmon and scrutinizing environmental hazards from flame retardants to ship noise, a new federal plan says.
And it could take nearly three decades and cost $50 million.
The proposed recovery plan released Tuesday by the National Marine Fisheries Service is a first look at how the federal government wants to save the orcas since it declared them endangered under the Endangered Species Act last year.
But environmentalists offered mixed reviews, saying that it offers a valuable framework but doesn't go far enough. On the other hand, property-rights advocates who object to the listing in the first place continue to warn that it could mean restrictions on everything from ship traffic to development.
"Critical habitat"
The draft report released Tuesday represents the overall plan for the recovery of so-called Southern Resident orcas, mammals that spend much of the summer in Puget Sound and currently number only about 90, divided into three groups called pods. The goal is to return their numbers to health so they no longer need federal endangered-species protection.
The public is invited to comment on the recovery plan for the fisheries service to consider before issuing a final version. There is no deadline for that final plan.
At the same time, the fisheries service has issued a final decision about how much "critical habitat" it considered vital to the orcas. It has officially established that area as most of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the San Juan Islands and parts of Haro Strait.
Within that area, the fisheries service will scrutinize any project with federal funding or permits that could hurt either the orcas or their habitat. Construction of bridges or large piers, for example, would have to clear another regulatory hurdle.
Federal officials say a lot of questions remain about exactly why the orcas are in decline and how to best reverse it. So the recovery plan calls for doubling funding over the next five years to $15 million for research.
"We don't have a smoking gun," said Lynne Barre, a federal marine mammal scientist and an author of the plan.
There are several prime suspects.
