Those who’ve been out of the Puget Sound Partnership loop and who want to learn more about the state’s umbrella plan to clean up Puget Sound by 2020 may want to attend a meeting in Blyn.

Clallam County is part of what the state calls the Strait of Juan de Fuca Action Area. Each action area will have a part in the formation of an action agenda, which will guide cleanup efforts around the sound through prioritization, funding mechanisms and coordinating efforts.

The Puget Sound Partnership is made up of several boards. The Leadership Board makes the big decisions while the Ecosystem Coordination Board is more of an advisory council.

The Ecosystem Coordination Board is meeting in Blyn on Oct. 1 at the Jamestown S’Klallam Community Center from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

The advisory board is responsible for helping implement the action agenda and its 27 members represent a variety of interests around the sound.

Clallam County Commissioner Steve Tharinger is a member of the board. He said the meeting will be good for the public to get a recap of the Puget Sound Partnership’s mission, a list of accomplishments thus far and a look into what is to come.

"We are characterized as the ‘how-to’ board and considering we will be having a finalized action agenda soon, we need to be ready to advise on how that will be implemented," Tharinger said. "We are not talking about specific agenda topics so much as how to move forward with program, policy and capital initiatives."

The initiatives are the building blocks for the agenda’s implementation. Capital, for instance, is very important in getting projects funded and completed. The same goes for legislative initiatives that will make cleaning up the sound and maintaining levels of ecosystem integrity possible.

A draft of the action agenda will be made available within the coming month. Final adoption is scheduled for Dec. 1.

Over the coming weeks organizers will conduct additional workshops and meetings dedicated to the agenda itself. The coordination board meeting is designed to prepare the partnership on instituting the agenda once it is finalized.

There will be time at the Oct. 1 meeting dedicated to the collection of public comment on any of the issues the partnership is dealing with as well as its action agenda. For detailed information about the Puget Sound Partnership, its action agenda or the boards that make up the partnership, visit www.psp.wa.gov.