U.S. Rep. Larsen backs estuary bill

Published 2:37 pm Tuesday, February 17, 2015

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, introduced a bill to improve estuary habitat protections in the House of Representatives on Feb. 12.

With the support of a New Jersey Republican representative, Frank LoBiondo, the bill would reauthorize the National Estuary Program through 2020. Funding from the program, run by the Environmental Protection Agency, would help local efforts in Washington and across the United States of America protect critical estuaries, according to a new release from Larsen’s office.

“In the Pacific Northwest, we know that healthy estuaries like the Puget Sound support healthy fish, birds and other wildlife, as well as important economic activity such as trade, fishing, tourism and outdoor recreation,” Larsen said in the statement. “In addition to improving salmon habitat, restoring estuaries can have important carbon sequestration effects, as a report last year about the Snohomish Estuary found. Currently planned and in-progress restoration projects will result in at least 2.55 million tons of CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere over the next 100 years. This is the equivalent of a year’s worth of emissions from half a million automobiles.”