08/18/2007

By DAVID AMMONS  / Associated Press

In politics and government, sometimes it's all about connections — "who you know."

Gov. Chris Gregoire, drawing on her political and professional chits, has assembled a power team to take on the demanding task of leading an $8 billion crash program to clean up the ailing Puget Sound by 2020.

Gregoire, a former state ecology director, views this as a signature project for her administration and potentially a roadmap for other daunting environmental problems around the globe.

Gregoire has quietly launched one of the nation's largest environmental reclamation projects by pulling together the key players who will design and direct it — and then look for buckets of money to pay for it all.

The Puget Sound Partnership includes Gregoire's picks from politics and government, academics, and restoration experts to work with a huge array of scientists, interest groups and the general public to create a clear plan of attack.

"There are no guarantees, but we've brought the right people together," the governor said in an interview from her summer cabin this week. "I think the stars have aligned."

David Dicks, her pick as the first director, is a "twofer." At age 36, he has already established himself as an expert in environmental law, mediation, and habitat restoration. And his dad, Norm Dicks, just happens to be well-connected chairman of the congressional budget panel with control over the federal environmental agencies.

Dicks' board chairman has star power in the environmental community and in both parties. He's Bill Ruckelshaus, former two-time Environmental Protection Agency director who has become the godfather of mediating environmental disputes.

Gregoire's ecology alter ego, Jay Manning, has worked with both junior and senior Dicks and Ruckelshaus. Manning and David Dicks come out of the same well-connected Seattle environmental law firm and have ties with both the environmental movement and business.

They've loaded the new squad with some of the major players in the region — not natural allies — and they've worked closely with the Legislature and with the state's congressional delegation.

If networking will do the job, they're halfway home.

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THE JOB...

For at least three decades, the region has dealt with pieces of the problem, with some success, such as in dealing with stormwater runoff, leaky septic systems, and industrial and municipal pollution. But the orca, salmon runs and myriad fish and wildlife species still are at risk and the continuing population boom always seems to erode the gains.

Gregoire and lawmakers from both parties and both Washingtons decided to make it a front-burner issue — although the actual blueprint and the source of the billions in rehab money still aren't known.

Olympia created the partnership as the framework. The agency, backed by science advisers and environmental experts, has until September 2008, to come up with an action plan that breaks down the massive issue into bite-size pieces.

Then it will take money. Leaders already are talking about some sort of long-term dedicated tax source so the project isn't subject to the ups and downs of the state and federal budgets.

At the starting gate, the team is all can-do optimism, yet quick to say the ultra-complicated project carries myriad risks of failure along the way — and big unknowns, like the effects of global warming, habitat loss, rising sea levels, and the sheer development pressures of another million people moving into the region.

"We'd be the first place to really pull it off," learning from the mistakes with the Everglades, Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay, says David Dicks.

His father says the synergy of getting the key players pulling together gives the project a fighting chance. Recalling how the region cleaned up Lake Washington years ago, Dicks said, "This is our generation's challenge. Now it's our turn. We have to step up."

Environmentalists are supportive, but impatient.

"She's got the right people together and now it's time to stop talking and planning and organizing and come up with the plan that then needs to be implemented," says Clifford Traisman of the Washington Environmental Council. "It's time to get down to work."

Kathy Fletcher, director of People for Puget Sound, said the new thrust starts with great energy and promise, but says the trick will be to not get sidetracked into studies and turf wars.

"We're very, very worried that in spite of the governor's desire to get started, we could get bogged down very easily," she said.

"It's daunting, but doable," says David Dicks. "This is our last good shot at saving the Sound. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get it right."

Engaging the public and making the case for a heavy investment will be of paramount importance if it's all to work, says Ruckelshaus.

"I am determined that this will work," Gregoire says.

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'BOLDEST CHOICE'

The governor's pick of the youthful David Dicks may have raised a few eyebrows, given who his father is. Gregoire's office actually ignored the connection altogether in making the official announcement this week, and a spokesman was a bit defensive about the cronyism angle. Contacted later, the congressman, his son and the governor all insisted that it wasn't a ploy to ingratiate herself and the project to a pivotal, senior member of the congressional delegation.

All three emphasized David Dicks' expertise in environmental law and cleanup, Puget Sound salmon restoration, resolving disputes between fisheries and forestry and farming, and working with King County and the Legislature. They also noted that senior Dicks has been a prime advocate for the Sound for his entire congressional career and needed no encouragement to shake the money tree.

"This was the governor's decision; I played no role, and in fact, I purposely stayed out of it and wanted David to stand on his own two feet," the congressman said.

"His last name had nothing whatsoever to do with my choosing him," Gregoire says.

Traisman says it's an indivisible twofer. "David comes with a strong environmental history — and he is Norm Dicks' son, a nice intangible to have, but his credentials are far greater than that."

Puh-leeeze, says state GOP Chairman Luke Esser. "It raises definitely eyebrows to see that kind of selection. The governor spared no effort in finding the most qualified child of the most senior Democratic congressman to reward."

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VACATION, SORT OF

Gov. Gregoire and First Mike are on their first extended vacation of the term — three weeks at the little summer cabin they've had for decades on Idaho's Hayden Lake, near Spokane. They've been doing lots of repair and spruce-up, painting until 2 a.m. the other day. But aides say she spends part of every day calling Olympia — cell reception is terrible — and dealing with government stuff and press calls. Robin Arnold-Williams, the human services director, says she's gotten a number of calls.

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen is in charge when Gregoire is beyond Washington borders. He's been acting governor seven days in June, five days in July and 13 days in August so far, including Gregoire's Mexico trade mission, a visit to Anchorage and campaign-related activities. He gets paid at the higher gubernatorial salary, but makes it a practice to not move into the governor's suite or to abuse his insta-power. He was acting governor 57 days last year.

If Owen is also gone, Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed is acting governor. It happened once this summer. If all three are gone, then Treasurer Mike Murphy leapfrogs into power.

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David Ammons is the AP's state political writer and has covered the statehouse since 1971. He may be reached at P.O. Box 607, Olympia, WA 98507, or at dammons@ap.org on the Internet.