Marine Resource Committees

Coastal MRCs
Grays Harbor County

2011 Projects

GHC MRC focused its 2011 project funding and volunteer efforts on State Ocean Caucus representation, water quality planning and assessment, strategic planning, education and outreach activities, and a Beach Recycling and Marina Day.

GHC MRC representatives participated in all of the SOC meetings throughout the year, and in addition provided input and support for the group process that came about for the Coastal Advisory Body. The MRC regularly coordinated with local marine resource related groups, and made it a priority to work on projects and coordinate on a coast-wide level. GHC maintained its website to inform the public of relevant project and meeting information.

One of GHC MRC’s top priorities in 2011 was public education. Ocean Literacy Kits, assembled by the MRC in 2010, were loaned out to at least four schools during the year where they were shared by multiple teachers. At the end of the year, based off of teacher requests, the MRC provided twelve enhancements including books, DVDs, observation boxes, plankton collection nets, and pocket magnifiers. Overall, GHC MRC’s participation in the watershed festival, FIN in school and field trip transportation grants combined with the Ocean Literacy Kits has made a wonderful marine education impact in the local schools. The field trips alone provided outdoor education to over 875 students ranging from 3rd to 11th grades. The MRC also funded sign updates to two; six-sign sets to enhance public education and marina visitors.

The MRC provided funding for the Coastal Learning Center to fund two half-time AmeriCorps volunteers for the 2011 school year. Over the ten month period, the volunteers assisted in many roles for the MRC including coordination of the Ocean Literacy Kits and Transportation mini-grants, note taking for multiple meetings, and participation at outreach events.

The MRC partnered with Ocean Companies to host and promote a recycling portion of the Earth day beach clean ups. Future ideas for increasing awareness about beach waste and clean ups includes potentially making some of the unique waste into an art sculpture. In addition, the MRC partnered with the Chehalis Basin Stream Team to fund and volunteer for a beach cleanup at Westhaven State Park. The MRC also sponsored a Marina Day event at the Westport Museum for elementary school students.

Water quality monitoring data collection began during the exploratory phase of the GHC MRC. Working in cooperation with the Pacific Shellfish Institute, GHC MRC board members and volunteers have continued to collect weekly samples, at different points through the year, from the north and south sides of Grays Harbor County. Collected data is focused on harmful algal blooms and ocean acidification. The final reports for 2009 and 2010 are available on the GHC MRC website. After losing a committed volunteer, only a few samples were collected in 2011. The effort of collection requires over four hours each collection day, and the MRC hopes to fill this gap to continue the important sound science. With MRC funds, a new Beta Plus 2.2 Liter collection bottle was purchased to provide more accurate marine water sampling for DO and CO2. The bottle is designed to collect water from a chosen depth in the water column without influence from other water during retrieval.

Ready to better address defining the long term needs and scope of the MRC, committee members planned and carried out a facilitated strategic planning session for May 2011. Through the day long planning session facilitated by Ray Ledgerwood, the MRC came up with a vision for accomplishments through 2016, strategic priorities, a draft mission statement, and specific benchmarks, timelines and actions. The MRC and participants came away with a report, available on the website, describing the results of the session that can be used to shape the actions and prioritization of projects in the future.

Priority Future Actions

The GHC MRC developed a list of recommended priority actions for 2012. Those priorities include continued funding to field trip transportation for students to local beaches and marine environments, and continuation of the Ocean Literacy Kits. The MRC has also shown interest in continuing the long term strategic planning that was developed in 2011. The MRC also plans to continue its strong participation in the Chehalis Watershed Festival. The GHC MRC will work to position itself, and other Coastal MRCs, to be a strong, local voice in the development and implementation of the Coastal Marine Spatial Planning. This may include working with the Governor’s Office, participation in the State Ocean Caucus, hosting workshops and direct planning participation. The MRC has also offered the Quinault Indian Nation a letter of support and dedicated direct and in-kind funding to a project, which if the grant is approved, will result in abandoned gear clean up in the Chehalis and Quinault Rivers and a survey of pilings in Grays Harbor. Lastly, water quality monitoring, focusing on ocean acidification, harmful algal blooms and vibrio, has and continues to be a priority project of the GHC MRC. Partnering with Pacific Shellfish Institute, the MRC hopes to establish strong baseline data to help protect, maintain and best use its marine resources now and in the future.

Visit the Grays Harbor County MRC website or contact Garrett Dalan, the MRC coordinator, for more information.

Garrett Dalan
Environmental Health Specialist
Grays Harbor County
100 West Broadway, Suite 31
Montesano, WA  98563-3614

(360) 249-4413
Toll-Free: (800) 230-1638

gdalan@co.grays-harbor.wa.us

Signed resolution establishing a Marine Resource Committee [PDF]

Related Documents

• Renewable Energy and Space Use Conflicts on the Outer Continental Shelf flyer
• Beach and Marine Clean-up Flyer
• 20,000 Gigabits Under the Sea: Next-Generation Ocean Science off the Washington and Oregon Coasts Annoucement
• “The Ocean and You” Presentation Agenda