Grays Harbor County Appoints 11-Member Board for Washington's First Coastal Marine Resources Committee

On May 19th Grays Harbor county commissioners appointed an 11-member board to serve on the state's first coastal Marine Resources Committee (MRC). The MRC will be looking at coastal issues and ensuring that local, state and federal decisions on marine issues are influenced by the local community through a "bottoms up," grass roots approach.

The MRC board, made up mostly of fishermen, marine experts, and environmentalists, will host a public forum at 10:00am, June 20, at the Rotary Log Pavilion in Aberdeen. The agenda will include an introduction by Commissioner Al Carter and a presentation by Professor David Montgomery, one of last year’s winners of a $500,000 “genius” award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Montgomery, the author of “Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations.” will keynote the June 20 public forum. In addition there will be several experts on hand to discuss marine issues pertaining to Grays Harbor such as proposed ocean energy projects and shorebirds as an indicator of ocean health.

The primary function of this MRC will be to look at issues that may have an impact on our coast such as offshore drilling and alternative energy projects. But there's no shortage of inland concerns as well pertaining to things like residential and commercial development and wetland and estuary issues. An MRC is really meant to get folks in the community "to the table" in order to keep decision making local to the area's needs and perspectives.
It was a $50,000 allocation to the county from the Legislature in 2008 that helped make this MRC a reality. For the last year local constituents from all over Grays Harbor have held several exploratory meetings to discuss what this county MRC should look like. The county approved it's formation in March of this year and with that the June 20th forum was planned as a way to introduce the MRC to the local community and demonstrate what a valuable mechanism it can be. Admission is free and lunch and refreshments will be provided. There will also be a free raffle for a coastal lodging and charter package. To RSVP or for more information, please email Garrett Dalan at gdalan@co.grays-harbor.wa.us or call (360) 249-4413. To learn more about the Grays Harbor County Marine Resources Committee: http://www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/info/pub_svcs/MRC/background/background.htm.

Those appointed to the committee include Bob Burkle of Montesano, with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife; Roberta Davenport of Rochester, with the state Department of Natural Resources; Eric Delvin of Olympia, with the Nature Conservancy; Kathy Greer of Westport, with Surfrider Foundation; R.D. Grunbaum of Ocosta, with Friends of Grays Harbor; Don Harders of Hoquiam, with the Lone Tree Oyster Co.; Robin Leraas of Aberdeen, with the Port of Grays Harbor; Don Samuelson of Aberdeen, with Deep Sea Charters; Ray Toste of Westport, with the Washington Crab Fishers Association; Joe Schumacher of Taholah, with the Quinault Indian Nation; and Lorena Marchant of Aberdeen, with Grays Harbor College.