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Washington’s coastal and ocean resources provide vital economic, recreation, transportation, and cultural benefits to coastal and state residents. Identifying and implementing realistic, effective, and efficient solutions to the unique conservation and management issues of Washington’s outer coast requires utilizing the available knowledge and creative approaches of coastal citizens and leaders. Citizen-based Marine Resource Committees (MRCs) are an effective mechanism to harness the dedication, creativity, and wisdom of coastal residents to compliment ongoing efforts to restore, protect, and manage coastal marine resources.
The goal of the Coastal MRC Program 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.
2011 Report to the Legislature Published
Program staff and MRC coordinators compiled the 2011 Report to the Legislature. This report displays the accomplishments and valuable partnerships made in the fourth successful year of the Coastal MRC Program. Click here for 2011 Coastal MRC Report
Department of Ecology Announces Coastal Advisory Body Appointments
On December 13, 2011, the Department of Ecology’s Director appointed coastal representatives to fill the seats on a newly formed Coastal Advisory Body. The purpose of the new advisory body is to advise the State Ocean Caucus on ocean policy issues. The document summarizing the appointment process and list of representatives is available here. For more information, see http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/ocean/advisorygroup.html.
Climate Science Summaries for Marine and Coastal Systems Available
WDFW recently released a set of climate science summaries for four major ecological systems. Follow this link http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01239/ for electronic copies of the reports, including one on Marine and Coastal Systems.
Beach Mining / Mineral Prospecting Demonstration
A demonstration of beach mining and mineral prospecting equipment occurred on October 29, 2011 near Boone Creek in Grays Harbor County. Some MRC members and WDFW staff were able to attend. For more information on small scale mineral prospecting, please see the State Parks website at http://www.parks.wa.gov/rules/.
2011 Coastal MRC Summit Report
The Coastal MRCs gathered in Forks on October 13th and 14th for the annual Summit. To read about the discussion and outcomes of the Summit, check out the Report.
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