Northwest Straits MRC Conference Begins

NWSTRAITS 2019 Collage 1

The Northwest Straits Commission, which since 1998 has run the nationally-recognized conservation initiative, the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative has opened it’s 2019 conference. The conference brings together scientists and  community volunteers in seven counties in northwest Washington. Due to space limitations it was a limited audience but they will be publishing Powerpoints & Audio taping of many of these sessions.

During this conference, the participants get to share their expertise and projects, restoring and educating county citizens and politicians  in their local locales.

The conference attendees will participate in field trips, roundtable worksessions, PCHO3230

The Northwest Straits Initiative’s unique and innovative approach combines sound science and ecosystem perspective together with citizen energy and entrepreneurship to improve efforts to save Puget Sound.

This was the agenda.

Friday, November 15  
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM Field trip: Howarth Park (optional)
Hosted by the Snohomish MRC, led by Bob Hillman
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Northwest Straits 101 (optional)

Dr. Lucas Hart, Director, Northwest Straits Commission

Don Hunger, Executive Director, Northwest Straits Foundation

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM Welcome and opening remarks

Alan Clark, Chair, Northwest Straits Commission

Anne Murphy, President, Northwest Straits Foundation

Sarah Brown, Chair, Snohomish MRC
Executive Dave Somers, Snohomish County

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Tying it all together: the impact of our collective actions

Dr. Tessa Francis, Puget Sound Institute

Dr. Ron Thom, Northwest Straits Commission

Dr. Tom Mumford, Marine Agronomics

Moderator: Dana Oster, Northwest Straits Commission staff

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM Room check-in and break
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Musings on habitat loss and restoration in Puget Sound

Dr. Tish Conway-Cranos, WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

Moderator: Lisa Kaufman, Northwest Straits Foundation staff

 
4:00 PM – 4:15 PM Lessons learned from painting Fishes of the Salish Sea

Ray Troll, Artist

4:15 PM – 4:30 PM Remarks from Senator Liz Lovelett
Introduced by Tom Cowan, Northwest Straits Commission
4:30 PM  
 
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM Reception and networking

Podcast: OCTOPOD – Open Communications for The Ocean

Raye Evrard and Allie Brown

 

Book signing: Cruisin’ the Fossil Coastline
Dr. Kirk Johnson and Ray Troll

 
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM Dinner and Keynote Speaker

Welcome – Chairman Shawn Yanity, Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians

Environmental Leadership Award

Deep Time and the Salish Sea
Dr. Kirk Johnson, Sant Director, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

 

 

 

Saturday, November 16

Location: Courtyard by Marriott Ballroom

 
8:45 AM – 9:00 AM Tying it all together – summary results

Dr. Tessa Francis, Puget Sound Institute

 
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM Building community connections

Cheryl Lowe, Jefferson MRC staff

Rebecca Benjamin, North Olympic Salmon Coalition

Dr. Julia Parrish, UW Coastal Observation & Seabird Survey Team

Moderator: Sasha Horst, Northwest Straits Commission staff

10:30 AM – 10:40 AM Remarks from Representative Debra Lekanoff
Introduced by Tom Cowan, Northwest Straits Commission
 
10:40AM – 10:50 AM Break
 
10:50 AM – 11:50 AM Climate change and the blue carbon revolution

Dr. John Rybczyk, Western Washington University
Moderator: Dr. Ron Thom, Northwest Straits Commission

11:50 AM – 12:00 PM Remarks from US Representative Suzan DelBene

Introduced by Christina Koons, San Juan MRC and Northwest Straits Commission

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM Lunch – buffet
1:15 PM – 2:15 PM Transboundary cooperation in killer whale conservation

Dr. Rob Williams, Oceans Initiative

Moderator: Ginny Broadhurst, Salish Sea Institute

Day 2: continued on next page
2:15 PM – 2:45 PM MRC Awards

Presented by:

Nan McKay, Northwest Straits Commission/Foundation

Anne Murphy, President, Northwest Straits Foundation

 
2:45 PM – 3:00 PM Closing announcements
 

 

 

 

Report from the Climate Change Front – State Senator Kevin Ranker at the NW Straits Conference

Washington State is in the forefront of the impacts of climate change around the world. In addition to actually feeling the effects, in alarming problems emerging in our waters that are impacting shellfish, we have a state legislature and governor that have demanded and funded serious scientific study along with  a feedback loop to the lawmakers from the Governor’s directives, as well as State law.

It is difficult to collate all the scientific efforts of this funding into a neat package, but once or twice a year, we get a window into that work. The Northwest Straits Initiative, which for over 15 years has brought together scientists, business interests, tribes  and volunteer citizens, holds their annual conference.  These people belong to the Marine Resource Committees  (MRCs) of seven counties, from Snohomish to the Canadian border, and west through the Strait of Juan de Fuca (along with non-NW Straits Initiative managed counties along the Coast). The MRC  representatives  come together to share the stories of their work, and hear a unified program of science efforts that support or influence that work.

This year, the conference attendees, were treated to an update on many of the various climate change issues that they face. As part of our coverage of this important conference, and because the NW Straits does not have the financial capabilities to hold a large public forum, we  at the Olympic Peninsula Environmental News present a series of presentations to you over the next few weeks, to allow the general public to hear what was told to the attendees. Given that the attendees are mainly volunteers (there are a few part time staff members in each jurisdiction to help in project management and grant writing), and come forward from the local communities, for those who are interested in volunteering, or cannot afford the time and money to attend the conference, we will post audio of all the presentations we were able to cover, which was all but two, and in addition, as time allows, we will also post the powerpoint presentations of those speakers who used it.

Washington State Senator Kevin leads off the presentations. Hailing from  San Juan County,  Senator Ranker has been instrumental in providing support with funding and legislation to scientific research and policy guidance on ocean acidification (OA). OA research is a critical to fund, as the effects of the increased acidification, in even small degrees, appears to have serious outcomes on shellfish, which provides over $270 million dollars a year (2010 number), and over 3200 direct jobs, most of them in rural and lower income communities around the Sea.  These jobs also support the wider communities they live in with indirect jobs, in supporting industries.

Senator Ranker’s presentation can be found at the following link. You can listen to it right here, or download it for later listening on any MP3 player, or your tablet or PC. The presentation is 38 minutes long, and Senator Ranker’s slides will likely be available later. It is our opinion that not immediately having his slides will not detract from his message. The Senator is a very humorous and off the cuff speaker.

If you wish to attend any of the monthly MRC meetings in your area, check their local web sites. All meetings are open to the public and are advertised in advance. You can also support the work of the NW Straits Initiative, by donating to the NW Straits Foundation. Their web site is http://www.nwstraits.org and http://www.nwstraits.org/Foundation/About.aspx.

NW Straits Foundation now hiring!

Just in from Joan Drinkwin: The Northwest Straits Foundation is currently hiring two positions:

Nearshore Program Manager: The Nearshore Program Manager is responsible for developing and managing habitat restoration projects for marine shorelines in partnership with our Marine Resources Committee partners, land managers, and private property owners. This position is also responsible for management of education and outreach programs about nearshore issues.

 Outreach and Development Manager: The Foundation seeks an innovative and relationship-oriented team member to grow its development infrastructure with a particular focus on cultivation of private gifts and business relationships.

Full job descriptions can be found on our website: http://www.nwstraits.org/Foundation.aspx

Joan Drinkwin

Programs Director

Northwest Straits Foundation

360-733-1725

www.nwstraits.org

 

NY Times on the local fish net removal project

Great work by our local NW Straits Initiative team (with kudos’ to Ginny Broadhurst and Jeff June), who have brought back $4.6 million in stimulus money to fund the efforts to get divers to go down and remove sunken abandoned fishing nets (known as ‘derelict gear removal’). The nets, which continue to kill sealife, have been mapped prior to this, and will now be removed. 40 new local jobs are created for a few years, some local boats are hired to get the divers down, and the Sound and Straits are helped be rid of the scourge of the abandoned nets. A win all around for taxpayers. Read the whole story at The New York Times (link below) or link to the NW Straits website off the left side of this page:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/us/25fishnets.html?ref=todayspaper

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