OCNMS Advisory Council Discusses Preliminary Draft Action Plans!

The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS) Advisory Council’s next meeting will be Friday, March 19, from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Department of Natural Resources meeting room in Forks (for directions, see http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/em_directions_to_oly_region.pdf).

This is going to be an exciting meeting, as OCNMS staff have been working intensely over the past six weeks to draft the action plans for the revised management plan. Staff have developed 20 preliminary draft action plans based upon the recommendations of the Advisory Council (and its working groups), the Olympic Coast Intergovernmental Policy Council and the public:

1. Collaborative & Coordinated Sanctuary Management Action Plan
2. Community Involvement in Sanctuary Management Action Plan
3. Sanctuary Operations Action Plans
4. Habitat Mapping & Classification Action Plan
5. Physical & Chemical Oceanography Action Plan
6. Populations, Communities & Ecosystems Action Plan
7. Data Management, Sharing & Reporting Action Plan
8. K-12 Education Action Plan
9. Higher Education Action Plan
10. Visitor Services Action Plan
11. Community Outreach Action Plan
12. Spills Prevention, Preparedness, Response & Restoration Action Plan
13. Climate Change Action Plan
14. Marine Debris Action Plan
15. Wildlife Disturbance Action Plan
16. Water Quality Protection Action Plan
17. Habitat Protection Action Plan
18. Marine Spatial Planning Action Plan
19. Maritime Heritage Action Plan
20. Socioeconomic Values of Sanctuary Resources Action Plan

On March 19, we plan to walk everyone through all the preliminary draft action plans. We have posted the Preliminary Draft Action Plans in one large pdf on the OCNMS management plan website (http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/protection/mpr/mpr_currentstat.html). The document is long (~75 pages), but the individual draft action plans are relatively short (3-5 pages, in general). The easiest way to approach the document is to spend time reviewing those draft action plans that most interest you.

Additional information about the Advisory Council meeting, including the agenda, will be posted shortly on the Advisory Council meeting schedule webpage (http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/AboutUs/sac/sac_meetschedule.html). There will be opportunities for public comment at the meeting. Additional information about the management plan review process can be found at http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/protection/mpr/welcome.html.

Thanks!
OCNMS Management Plan Review Team

%d