their systems and poisoning them. So the ESA listing of the Southern Residents meant that many of the efforts currently under way on behalf of the fish, including a $1 billion Puget Sound salmon recovery plan begun at the same time, would have even more teeth, so to speak. Many of these plans include placing restrictions on development in sensitive areas and limiting runoffs from urban areas into the orcas’ waters. Moreover, NMFS’s orca-recovery plan specifically required “expansion of local land-use planning and control, including management of future growth and development.” That immediately
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