From Ginnie Broadhurst, the Director of the NW Straits Commission.
“Today we learned officially through Senator Murray’s office that there is no funding provided for the Northwest Straits Initiative in NOAA’s FY 2011 spending plan that was submitted to Appropriations Committee this afternoon. This is deeply disappointing for all of us and will certainly have significant implications for our organization.
We’ve been preparing for a number of scenarios, including this one. I am working to raise other funding sources to cover Commission and MRC costs into 2012 and we are using our Foundation staff to leverage additional funding to make sure that some projects can be funded in the coming year.
I know this is going to be a lean and challenging time, but all of us at the Commission are ready to rally and look forward to finding creative solutions and keep things going. Our work is important and well respected by our partners and communities.”
The NW Straits Commission has been responsible for numerous significant efforts to support the Sound and Straits. They have funded the Marine Resource Committees (MRCs) that act as de facto local community subject matter experts on shoreline and water issues to the County Commissioners of 10 counties along the Strait, San Juan’s and other communities. They have funded efforts to protect eel grass, Olympia Oysters and most significantly, the Derelict Net and Fishing Gear program, that is responsible for pulling up hundreds of miles of nets and gear.
This is a blow to recovery efforts in the Straits and North Sound. We hope that they will find a way to fund this critical efforts to save the NWC. To be clear, the reason this happened is because the Obama administration and Congress has stopped the process of ‘earmarking’ funds for projects like this. We hope you call your representatives and let them know what you think of this issue. And that you hope that funding will be found elsewhere.
UPDATE: For clarity, there is action in the Senate to create a re-authorization of the NWSC Initiative. More information on this process will be updated in this column in the future, as I get it.
Full Disclosure: I am a member of the Jefferson County MRC, but receive no pay for my efforts. It is a volunteer effort on my part.