Last year at this time, with the community’s help, Preserve Our Islands did an amazing thing. We won one of the most important environmental battles for both the Island and Puget Sound as the acquisition of the former Glacier site was completed.

As a result of the tenacity and power that can only be brought forth by many people working together, the shoreline along Maury Island has now been permanently protected for the forage fish and salmon that depend on it. And for the orcas, Northwest icons on the brink of extinction that — with each rise of the dorsal fin — remind us of all that is at stake.

Some groups might have chosen to give themselves a pat on the back, toast their success and fade into retirement. But Preserve Our Islands knew we didn’t have that option, because, sadly, our local shorelines and regional Puget Sound ecosystems continue to be threatened every day. And if we turned away now, important habitats would be lost forever.

Locally, Quartermaster Harbor, which the National Marine Fisheries Services describes as one of the most important forage fish areas in Puget Sound, stands on the brink of collapse with elevated nitrogen, dangerously low dissolved oxygen levels, failing septic systems and a state aquatic reserve management plan that allows damaging development at every turn.

And throughout Puget Sound, critical ecosystems are being destroyed and endangered species harmed due to a regulatory system that fails to protect nearshore habitats or follow established environmental laws, instead giving countless developers just like Glacier carte blanche to do as they please.

This is why Preserve Our Islands has developed a bold new plan to move forward in 2012 with both local and regional work that is critically needed and not currently being addressed. It’s why we are now working to stop the threats to Quartermaster Harbor and the Aquatic Reserve. And why we are standing up to stop the permitting agencies from handing out rubber- stamped approvals for construction projects that destroy vital ecosystems.

Locally, we are working to ensure that the new park’s management and arsenic cleanup plans are developed wisely and with ecosystem protection in mind. And we have already begun to provide oversight and action on the work being done to address both the low dissolved oxygen levels and failing septic systems in the harbor.

We will also be working directly with the Department of Natural Resources to immediately initiate a revision of the Reserve Management Plan — making sure to close the development-friendly loopholes left by former Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland, and establishing a plan that holds the primary purpose of strong environmental protection. One component we will make sure is included in this new plan is a local citizens advisory group, which will be developed to not only provide oversight to the development and implementation of the new plan, but to play a direct role in  decision making for any future lease decisions in the reserve.

And of course, we will continue to keep our well-seasoned sword sharpened and close by — in the event that a bigger local fight needs our immediate attention.

In the regional Puget Sound-wide focus of our work, the “watchdog” arm of the organization is moving forward with POI doing what we do best — working to ensure that regulatory agencies do their mandated job of appropriately protecting important habitats and species during shoreline permitting decisions.

In the year ahead, we will be systematically reviewing local, state and federal permits for development in Puget Sound to make sure that sound science is the basis for decision making and that regulatory agencies are applying the most fundamental of our environmental regulations as required by law. Which, as we learned during our fight for Maury, agencies at all levels routinely fail to do.

Both the local and regional work noted here is vital to the preservation and protection of Island shorelines and Puget Sound habitats. Yet, there are no environmental organizations doing it — and without this work, many feel that the recovery of Puget Sound will be impossible.

And so, we go on and continue to fight for the Island and for Puget Sound. And like before we need your help. As it is with all nonprofits, the work we do takes money, and we will be counting on your financial support in the year ahead. But most importantly, we need you standing up to take action with us once again. Writing letters when necessary to advocate for environmental protections and making changes in your own backyards to correct issues that may be harming Puget Sound. And, working with us to let the regulatory agencies know that the days of rubber-stamped, business-as-usual permits are over because they are now being watched by an environmental group that doesn’t take too kindly to critical habitats being destroyed — and who has a track record of making sure that they are not.

Someday, when the tides have turned on the protection of Island shorelines and Puget Sound recovery, we may all get to rest. But until then, it’s up to us all to keep working together to make sure that important ecosystems are preserved and that Puget Sound is not lost on our watch. Not now. And not ever.

— Amy Carey is the executive director of Preserve Our Islands.