Puget Sound federal task force: federal coordination and collaboration to protect and restore Puget Sound shorelines

It is well recognized by scientists and natural resource agencies, that restoration and protection of Puget Sound marine shorelines, will help move the needle toward Puget Sound recovery and the multitude of species that rely on nearshore and estuarine habitat. Under the Nearshore and Estuaries section of the Action Plan, federal agency workgroups have been formed to evaluate approaches for improving marine nearshore regulatory and restoration/protection processes, which were identified as a priority early on. The involvement of the Federal Task Force has enabled the active participation of relevant staff to motivate and reach toward beneficial, achievable outcomes. Since some of the actions in the section could not be realized without involvement by state and tribal input, multi-level government approaches have been developed, and these partnerships continue to be enhanced. Coordination and sharing of shoreline protection mechanisms with our Canadian partners could further innovation and increase more consistent education and outreach on both sides of the border. Some of the key actions in the section and specifics of the workgroups’ progress will be presented in this talk

The Puget Sound federal task force: an orientation to the task force, reflections on the first year and preview of what\u27s ahead

Coordination and collaboration between government agencies is essential to protect and restore Puget Sound. Prior to 2016, U.S. federal agencies coordinated as the Puget Sound Federal Caucus, operating mostly at the regional level without a formal plan or budget. With the Puget Sound Congressional delegation, Puget Sound Partnership, tribes and others recognizing that formal program and budget coordination at the federal level was needed to effectively protect and restore Puget Sound and Treaty protected resources, the White House Council on the Environmental Quality (CEQ) led 9 federal Cabinet Secretaries and agency directors to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) forming the Puget Sound Federal Task Force. The MOU, signed in November 2016, outlines the structure of the Task Force and the charge to Task Force agencies to produce an Action Plan outlining their commitments to Puget Sound protection and restoration. The Action Plan was adopted in January of 2017. With one year of operation, the co-chairs of the Regional Implementation Team of the Puget Sound Federal Task Force will share their experience forming the Task Force and developing the Action Plan, reflect on early successes and the path ahead for the Task Force and opportunities for transboundary coordination through the Task Force. This is an introductory talk to a series of talks on the Puget Sound Federal Task Force work

Puget Sound federal task force: federal coordination and collaboration to protect and restore Puget Sound shellfish

Shellfish have been harvested for thousands of years from Puget Sound. The region’s Tribes rely on shellfish for cultural, subsistence and commercial purposes. Shellfish have been farmed in Puget Sound for over a hundred years with the industry providing many jobs and economic benefits, especially in rural communities. Recreational shellfish harvest also provides economic benefits, as well as a strong sense of place for residents of Washington. Shellfish are a key part of our marine ecosystems, providing habitat and helping filter and cleanse water, thereby being part of the solution to restore and preserve the health of Puget Sound. There are 12 actions called out in the Shellfish section of the Action Plan including water quality protection, ocean acidification monitoring, permit streamlining, and native shellfish restoration. Summaries of these actions will be provided including progress to date

Puget Sound federal task force: federal collaboration to correct fish passage barriers

Multiple federal programs provide technical assistance and help fund fish passage barrier corrections across federal, state, local, tribal and private ownerships. Many of these efforts have been focused on Endangered Species Act (ESA) recovery plans for salmon and steelhead trout. In addition, federal land management agencies also have responsibilities for contributing to recovery of ESA listed species, which correcting passage barriers is a part of. With the development of the Puget Sound Federal Task Force Action Plan, federal agencies for the first time, have clearly outlined their unified commitments to fish passage barrier corrections throughout Puget Sound. This presentation will highlight some of the key federal programs and initiatives in the Action Plan. The speaker will also reflect on how the Action Plan elevates the importance of improving coordination and collaboration between federal agencies on these initiatives as well as plans for broadening coordination with Washington State agencies to explore linking fish passage barrier assessment and removal efforts. The speaker will also reflect on how this work is informed by existing and developing science and lessons learned outside of the Puget Sound

Puget Sound federal task force: federal collaboration to prevent and respond to vessel traffic pollution in Puget Sound

The US Coast Guard\u27s mission is to ensure commercial vessels, both foreign and domestic, transit U.S. waters safely and are environmentally sound. The Coast Guard works closely with state and local authorities, tribal governments, waterways stakeholders and private industry, as well as with international organizations, such as the IMO, to protect U.S. interests and balance equities across the maritime domain. Through the Federal Task Force Action MOU and Action Plan, the US Coast Guard, as the lead, has had an effective mechanism to coordinate with other Federal Agencies. The Federal Action Plan contains the US Coast Guard\u27s key commitments to vessel traffic, pollution prevention and response so federal agencies are able to more easily communicate on these priorities. This talk will highlight some of the key vessel traffic pollution prevention and response activities in the Federal Action Plan and how putting them in the Action Plan elevated the importance of and the coordination on these initiatives. The speaker will also highlight how the Task Force has led to the Coast Guard taking this initiative to the next level including coordinating and collaborating with state, local and tribal entities and highlight key emerging issues and priorities on vessel traffic for fed agencies as well as opportunities for greater international coordination through the Task Force

Puget Sound federal task force: federal coordination and collaboration on Puget Sound science and monitoring

Federal agencies have extensive expertise, capabilities and access to national and regional capacity for fundamental science and monitoring programs to support Puget Sound ecosystem recovery. Credible and salient scientific information and technical support are needed at the regional, sub-regional, and local levels to support recovery planning and implementation processes, address policy barriers, and inform the best next steps for recovery. While in many major coastal ecosystem recovery efforts, there are well-organized federal/state/local science enterprises that support recovery planning and implementation efforts, Puget Sound does not yet have a formal dedicated structure for effectively integrating federal science and monitoring expertise and capabilities for this purpose. In this presentation, the speaker will describe efforts to better integrate federal science and monitoring through the Puget Sound Federal Task Force Science and Monitoring work group and discuss the work group\u27s efforts to 1) determine interim steps that could be taken to help address critical science and monitoring gaps with current resources and capacity; 2) develop a process for prioritizing current and planned federal science and monitoring activities that are consistent with Puget Sound recovery needs; and 3) collaboratively develop options for developing a Federal Puget Sound Science Program that brings to bear federal scientific and technical expertise and capacity to support collaboration, leveraging, and science needs for Puget Sound recovery. The speaker will also preview Federal Task Force Science and Monitoring work group activities and priorities for 2018

Integrated decision support tools for Puget Sound salmon recovery planning

We developed a set of tools to provide decision support for community-based salmon recovery planning in Salish Sea watersheds. Here we describe how these tools are being integrated and applied in collaboration with Puget Sound tribes and community stakeholders to address restoration of hydrological and ecological processes critical to salmon recovery, and more broadly, to the functioning of entire watersheds and the ecosystem services they provide. For ongoing case studies in the Nisqually River and Tolt River watersheds in Washington, we are using a spatially-distributed watershed simulator – VELMA (Visualizing Ecosystem Land Management Assessments) – to quantify long-term effects of alternative forest management and climate scenarios on key salmon habitat variables, including peak and low flows, in-stream wood, fine sediment in spawning beds, and riparian condition. Stream temperature will be simulated using Penumbra, a new stream shade and temperature model that is being integrated with VELMA. VELMA/Penumbra stream habitat outputs will be used to drive the EDT (Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment) fish habitat model to simulate habitat potential and salmon population responses to the forest management and climate scenarios. A 3-D visualization tool (VISTAS; Cushing et al. 2009) is being used to summarize and communicate model outcomes in an intuitive way. An important goal of the case studies is to identify community-based best management practices for mitigating and adapting to projected changes in climate. For example, where and what kinds of in-stream, riparian and upland restoration practices will be most effective for improving cold water refuges, spawning and rearing habitat, and hydrologic flow regimes (higher summer flows and lower peak flows)? Model results are also being used to help address other community concerns, such as the establishment of a Nisqually Community Forest that sustainably supports forest-sector jobs, recreation and tourism

BACE1 Retrograde Trafficking Is Uniquely Regulated by the Cytoplasmic Domain of Sortilin*

BACE1 (β-site β-amyloid precursor protein (APP)-cleaving enzyme 1) mediates the first proteolytic cleavage of APP, leading to amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) production. It has been reported that BACE1 intracellular trafficking, in particular endosome-to-TGN sorting, is mediated by adaptor complexes, such as retromer and Golgi-localized γ-ear-containing ARF-binding proteins (GGAs). Here we investigated whether sortilin, a Vps10p domain-sorting receptor believed to participate in retromer-mediated transport of select membrane cargoes, contributes to the subcellular trafficking and activity of BACE1. Our initial studies revealed increased levels of sortilin in post-mortem brain tissue of AD patients and that overexpression of sortilin leads to increased BACE1-mediated cleavage of APP in cultured cells. In contrast, RNAi suppression of sortilin results in decreased BACE1-mediated cleavage of APP. We also found that sortilin interacts with BACE1 and that a sortilin construct lacking its cytoplasmic domain, which contains putative retromer sorting motifs, remains bound to BACE1. However, expression of this truncated sortilin redistributes BACE1 from the trans-Golgi network to the endosomes and substantially reduces the retrograde trafficking of BACE1. Site-directed mutagenesis and chimera experiments reveal that the cytoplasmic tail of sortilin, but not those from other VPS10p domain receptors (e.g. SorCs1b and SorLA), plays a unique role in BACE1 trafficking. Our studies suggest a new function for sortilin as a modulator of BACE1 retrograde trafficking and subsequent generation of Aβ