What's New
Legislation Introduced to renew the Northwest Straits Initiative
On July 31, a bill to reauthorize the Northwest Straits Commission was introduced in the US Senate and House of Representative by sponsors Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Rick Larsen. Click here for more information.
The Northwest Straits Commission is working closely with the Partnership to develop its 2020 Action Agenda. The Initiative plays an important role in mobilizing public support and building local capacity to accomplish the Partnership's goals of a restored Puget Sound by 2020.
Read about the most recent derelict fishing net removed from Port Susan Bay here. See a list of derelict fishing gear reports here.
The next Northwest Straits Commission meeting will be August 21 in Snohomish County. Directions and agenda coming soon.
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Featured Project
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2008 marks the 19th anniversary of the annual Intertribal Canoe Journey. On July 28th, more than 100 traditional Salish canoes will be greeted by cheering crowds at Cowichan Bay in British Columbia. The Canoe Journey brings tribes together from as far north as Alaska and as far south as Oregon, each crew tracing ancestral routes across the Salish Sea. This year, four canoes will participate in a groundbreaking pilot project to sample water quality along their Canoe Journey routes. The canoes will sport water quality monitoring probes, which sample every 20 seconds and record location data, temperature, pH, conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. Data is uploaded at the end of the day when the canoes come to shore and available
online.
Member Spotlight: Don Meehan
Island MRC member and lead staff Don Meehan calls himself a “simple country boy from Montana” and his favorite view of Puget Sound is from 4,000 feet up in his airplane, so it’s interesting that his work has led him to such deep involvement in the marine environment. Don established the
Beach Watcher program and built it into a powerful group of local citizens who are educated and working to protect resources and habitat.
Don’s involvement in the Northwest Straits Initiative goes back many years. He participated as an alternate for Island County Commissioner Mac MacDowell on the original Northwest Straits Citizens Advisory Commission, convened in the mid-1990s to come up with an alternative to a marine sanctuary. Following the signing of their report by Senator Patty Murray and then Congressman Jack Metcalf at the Admiralty Head lighthouse, Don joined on to implement the ideas that had come out of that group, including the creation of what is now the Northwest Straits Commission and the seven Marine Resources Committees. That group, known as the “kitchen commission”, completed its mission more quickly than anyone imagined, with all seven counties establishing a
Marine Resources Committee in the first year.
With the
Island MRC up and running, Don has continued to be involved and is pleased that the Beach Watchers program has been embraced regionally and supported by the Commission. Combining the strengths of the MRC and the Beach Watchers has been a key factor in their success in Island County, and Don has led the way in showing how that partnership can work in mutually beneficial ways.
As a local resident for nearly 40 years and a long history working on Puget Sound issues, Don is an incredible resource to the MRC and the Initiative.
Who We Are
The Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative, authorized by Congress, is nationally recognized as an innovation that brings sound science and an ecosystem perspective together with citizen energy and entrepreneurship.
Volunteers from seven county-based Marine Resources Committees select restoration and conservation projects that meet performance benchmarks, attract diverse partners, and engage large numbers of community members in the process.
The Northwest Straits Commission coordinates these efforts and conducts regional projects. The Commission also brings together scientists and marine managers to help improve everyone's efforts to save Puget Sound.