Rep. Dicks' son to head Puget Sound group

David Dicks, a Seattle environmental lawyer and the son of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., was appointed executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership on Tuesday by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Dicks, 36, is charged with overseeing the state agency formed by the 2007 state Legislature to restore the environmental health of an ailing Puget Sound by 2020.

Dicks' start date and salary are being negotiated with the governor, said Puget Sound Partnership spokeswoman Tony Droscher.

The first order of business will be to work with Partnership employees, a seven-member Puget Sound Leadership Council, a 27-member advisory board, a Puget Sound science panel, interest groups, politicians and the public on a Puget Sound cleanup action plan slated for completion by 2008.

"The creation of the Puget Sound Partnership has provided the foundation for delivering a clean and healthy Puget Sound to future generations; now we must make it happen," David Dicks said in a prepared statement.

Gregoire described her pick as an accomplished, energetic lawyer who spent his childhood summers on Hood Canal, where he developed a passion for the protection of one the state's most precious natural resources: Puget Sound.

"He has Puget Sound in his blood," agreed Bill Dewey, spokesman for Mason County-based Taylor Shellfish Farms. "We're excited about the choice."

"He's got the brains and enthusiasm, and he's certainly comfortable dealing with tough issues and tough people," said Bob Turner, a senior policy adviser for NOAA Fisheries Northwest Region who has worked with Dicks on a number of forest- and fish-­conservation measures.

Dicks is a partner in the Cascadia Law Group, a firm specializing in environmental law. He worked on the Puget Sound chinook recovery plan and assisted Gregoire and the state Legislature to create the Puget Sound Partnership.

The Puget Sound cleanup plan includes work to recover the chinook salmon, which is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Tasks ahead for Dicks and the partnership include:

• Figuring out how to curb the flow of pollution into Puget Sound as an additional 1.4 million people move into the region in the next 15 years.

• Finding long-term, dedicated funding for Puget Sound cleanup and salmon recovery, which is expected to cost billions of dollars and require never-ending effort.

• Crafting the right combination of carrots and sticks to keep local governments, state agencies, volunteer groups and others accountable for the money they receive and the roles they play in Puget Sound restoration work.

"We look forward to working with him," said Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People for Puget Sound, a conservation group.

Following a national search for an executive director, the Puget Sound Leadership Council forwarded to Gregoire the names of three finalists: Dicks; David Troutt, natural resource director of the Nisqually Tribe; and Jim Kramer, who served as executive director of Shared Strategy for Puget Sound, the grassroots groups that crafted the Puget Sound chinook recovery plan in 2005.

John Dodge covers the environment and energy for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5444 or jdodge@theolympian.com.