| Summary: | Natural assets provide numerous benefits to residents of the Salish Sea region. Clean and abundant water, habitat for salmon, cultural value and sense of place, and other benefits depend on healthy ecosystems. However, the condition of the Salish Sea continues to decline due to climate change, conversion of valuable habitat, pollution, and other threats. How local governments develop and implement land use policy and infrastructure investments for a growing human population will have profound, long-term consequences for the Salish Sea ecosystem. Local governments rely on natural assets and ecosystems for many of the services they provide, such as drinking water and stormwater and wastewater management. Likewise, local governments bear a responsibility to uphold treaty rights and work in partnership with Tribes, First Nations, and others to recover ecosystems, including salmon populations and shellfish growing areas. Despite being critical to sustainable service delivery and ecosystem resilience, natural assets are often left out of or not adequately emphasized in comprehensive plans, capital facilities plans, and other plans that guide management of essential assets. Local governments need a clear and effective framework for managing natural assets and the multiple benefits they provide. Natural asset management is a promising approach for municipal, regional, Tribal, and First Nation governments to collaborate on strategies to assess, maintain, and improve the condition of natural assets through local investments and sound land use policies. This panel discussion will focus on natural asset management efforts in Kitsap County, Washington and Gibsons, British Columbia. Panelists from Kitsap County, the Suquamish Tribe, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, the Town of Gibsons, and Washington Environmental Council will provide diverse perspectives on how natural asset management supports their communities’ goals and priorities, their approaches for inventorying and assessing natural assets, and both the challenges and ...
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