SEATTLE — The Obama administration on Tuesday stepped up efforts to protect Puget Sound, including forming a new federal task force to identify priorities for restoring one of the nation’s largest estuaries. The task force of federal agencies will work with tribal governments and others to come up with an action plan to better coordinate programs focused on Puget Sound. The federal action represents the latest in a string of efforts over the decades to tackle pressing environmental problems in the region, including dwindling salmon runs, water pollution and the rapid loss of wetlands and other wildlife habitat. “We understand we have a critical role to play here in the Puget Sound in delivering on that commitment to the tribes and the communities around the Puget Sound,” said Christy Goldfuss, managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, at a news conference in Seattle. Goldfuss said nine federal agencies signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening coordination among them to work toward a healthy Puget Sound ecosystem. The federal action builds on decades of efforts from state, local, tribal and federal governments and is similar to recent federal efforts to protect other ecosystems including the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay, she said. Goldfuss was joined by Gov.