Issue Position: Environment

Issue Position

"We must remember our responsibility to protect the environment and our public places. The natural beauty in our own state of Washington is both a testament to the value of our current and past efforts, and an affirmation of the need for us to do more. Economic growth and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive. Let's remember that, working together, we can balance both of these important priorities and leave a safer, cleaner planet for generations to come"

-- Senator Patty Murray

Washington's wild spaces are among our state's most important assets. Senator Murray believes in bringing people together to find the best way to ensure these assets will be there for our children and grandchildren. She believes that environmental protection and healthy natural resources are essential to long-term economic growth.

* Senator Murray wrote and sponsored the Wild Sky Wilderness Act, legislation to protect more than 106,000 acres of wilderness in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, which was signed into law in May 2008. This area, within 90 minutes of over 2.5 million people, will provide great recreational opportunities as well as low-elevation watershed protection and wildlife habitat.

* Senator Murray has championed efforts to protect Washington's unique open spaces. She has worked tirelessly to protect the Hanford Reach, the last wild stretch of the Columbia River and a critical salmon habitat, and is proud that, with her leadership, it now a National Monument. Senator Murray has also secured funding for the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center.

* Recovering salmon is a challenge that is not limited to only one part of the state or one group of people. Senator Murray has worked to ensure that all of the stakeholders involved in this issue work together to implement a cooperative, comprehensive, statewide effort to recover wild salmon and she has continued to secure the funding needed to support these efforts. Each year, Senator Murray leads the effort to secure funding for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund. In FY09, Senator Murray secured $80 million in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for salmon recovery projects along the Pacific Coast.

* Senator Murray will continue to work to increase funding for environmental cleanup and to block efforts to rollback safeguards for clean air and clean water. Senator Murray strongly opposes opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and natural gas drilling. She has consistently voted against attempts to allow drilling in ANWR, and has cosponsored legislation to declare ANWR a protected wilderness area that is off limits to drilling.

* Senator Murray reached across party lines to work with Congressman Jack Metcalf to create the Northwest Straits Commission in 1998. This effort has helped address the decline of the state's northwest marine ecosystems by bringing representatives from county, tribal, state and federal governments, non-profit organizations and volunteers together to protect and restore marine resources in northern Puget Sound. Senator Murray has consistently secured funding for the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative, with $1.6 million in FY09. Senator Murray also recently introduced legislation to reauthorize the Initiative.

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