Puget Sound Regional Council honors Sumner’s White River restoration with Vision 2050 award

The Puget Sound Regional Council presented the City of Sumner with a Vision 2050 award for the White River Restoration Project, recognizing the multi-government effort to restore habitat, improve levees and address transportation needs along the White River corridor.

Josh Brown, executive director of the Puget Sound Regional Council, told the council the project involved close collaboration among Sumner, Pierce County, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. Brown said the partners convened a dialogue committee that "met 57 times to be able to prioritize, collaborate, make sure that all the governments ... are on the same page." He highlighted the project's scale: restoration of more than 200 acres of habitat, construction of a new bridge, levee setbacks and transportation route improvements.

Brown also noted the area is part of the region's designated Sumner Pacific Manufacturing Industrial Center and emphasized the project's role in balancing habitat restoration with the area's importance for freight and industrial jobs. City Administrator Jason Wilson and core project staff — including Development Services Director Doug Beagle and Engineering Manager Robbie Wright — joined Brown for the award presentation, and Wilson said staff expect to move about "a million cubic yards of dirt this year" as part of construction and earthwork.

Council received the award and council members and staff posed for a photo with the regional council executive director and the project team. The award recognizes the long-term planning and intergovernmental coordination behind the White River Restoration Project and was presented at the council meeting.