In 2007, the Washington State Legislature passed Substitute House Bill 2049 that authorized coastal Marine Resources Committees in Pacific, Grays Harbor, and Wahkiakum cou nties with additional funding being approved in 2008 for Clallam and Jefferson Counties. The goal of the Coastal Program which is coordinated and currently funded through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is “to understand, steward, and restore the marine and estuarine ecological processes of the Washington coast in support of ecosystem health, sustainable marine resource-based livelihoods, cultural integrity, and coastal communities.“
The Summit agenda consisted of several facilitated board member sessions and a field trip and presentation at Bottle Beach to showcase just one of our region’s most ecologically diverse and impressive marine habitats. Later that evening folks gathered for a board member hosted dinner. Grays Harbor County Commissioner Al Carter was on hand and gave a brief keynote presentation. “In just two short years,” Carter said, “Coastal MRCs are proving an invaluable tool as a citizen driven mechanism to get community concerns heard by local agencies and lawmakers. It’s very apparent that out here on the coast our marine resources are vitally important to the livelihoods of many. Working together locally to get issues addressed and resolved around the health of our resources will ensure and improve the quality of both economic and environmental factors.” Carter went on to encourage everyone to get involved with their local Committee by attending one of their monthly public meetings or signing up to volunteer for any of their many ongoing events or projects.
Marine Resources Committees are meant to help identify local resource priorities through the coordination of a diverse range of partners and volunteers in order to find action-oriented solutions. They also focus on the importance of Washington’s coastal and ocean resources and how they provide vital economic, recreational, transportation, and cultural benefits to coastal residents.
Day two of the Summit kicked off with board members wrapping up their previous day’s discussions and then quickly shifting gears f or the Marine Spatial Planning public session they were hosting along with the State Ocean C aucus at McCausland’s Hall that afternoon.
More than 60 individuals were present for the public meeting, which set out to provide further outreach to the community on the subject of Marine Spatial Planning process in Washington and gather additional feedback on a draft report of recommendations being prepared by the Ocean Caucus due to the legislature this December 15.The report was a task assigned to the Caucus via this spring’s new marine spatial planning law (Substitute Senate Bill 6350). The new law sets out guidelines for creating a marine spatial plan and a framework for renewable energy in Washington. Additionally it asked for an interagency team (the State Ocean Caucus which is chaired by the Governor’s office and coordinated by Department of Ecology) to gather comments from coastal communities and beyond in regard to that plan.
The public comment session began with a welcome and introduction from Grays Harbor County Commissioners Terry Willis District 1 and Al Carter District 2 with each offering words of encouragement and support on the continued development of coastal Marine Resources Committees in Washington. They also commended those in attendance for taking a vested interest in such an important opportunity to provide their input on their concerns and recommendations for this spatial planning process.
“There’s a lot at stake here,” commented one of the session’s public attendees after the Commissioner welcome. “Marine spatial planning is such a complicated process involving so many ocean users from fisherman to surfers. It’s good that attempts are being made to get local input early before an actual plan is implemented.”
Session facilitator Margen Carlson from Department of Fish and Wildlife then took center stage to explain the afternoon’s agenda. Once a brief overview of marine spatial planning was given by the state’s Ocean Caucus leads Bob Nichols of the Governor’s Office and Jennifer Hennessey of Department of Ecology, folks then split up into six small groups and were assigned the task of considering three questions regarding the current draft recommendations report for marine spatial planning in Washington. The questions each group were asked to address included: what they liked about the report’s current recommendations, what they felt was missing, and/or how they felt they could be improved.
Attendees then reconvened to report the input gathered in each small group. An abundance of comments were recorded and included: provide more emphasis on minimizing pollution entering marine waters from all sources; promote a marine waters stewardship ethic; outline oil prevention measures; ensure that MRCs and local resource users have a continued voice in the spatial planning process; include all existing and developing Shoreline Management Plans during the spatial planning process; and emphasize protection of existing uses ahead of renewable energy planning framework.
The Summit and public session adjourned with many attendees staying after for continued discussions with board members and local and state agency leads. Although the current comment timeline for the draft report closed on October 5 you can learn more about the comments received from this session and review the draft report itself by visiting http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/msp/getinvolved.html.
