OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington state is making unprecedented moves to protect critical underwater plant life.
Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz signed an executive order on Monday, March 21st, that creates a new 2,300 acre Kelp and Eelgrass Protection Zone.
Development in that protected habitat near the mouth of the Snohomish River is now prohibited for the next 50 years.
Franz says protecting the dwindling kelp forests and eelgrass meadows is critical to the survival of the marine food web, calling these species the “breadbasket of the Salish Sea.”
While the bull kelp forests of Whatcom county have remained relatively stable, the Department of Natural Resources has observed steep declines in the southern Puget Sound in recent decades.