Member Spotlight Archive
Below are some of the past members of the Marine Resources Committees who were featured in our member spotlight.
Kirby Johnson, Snohomish MRC
Kirby Johnson is what you might call a charter member of the Snohomish MRC. An avid diver, he was stopping in at a dive shop on his way home from the Edmonds Underwater Park one Saturday when the flyer looking for members caught his eye.
Snohomish was the last of the seven MRCs to get started, and Kirby remembers feeling both impressed and discouraged at some of the early meetings. He could see it would take a while for the MRC to be a cohesive group that could get things done, but the other MRCs were already providing amazing examples of what could be done.
In his day job, Kirby is an engineer at Boeing who takes a day every few weeks to volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium, where he enjoys teaching the next generation about the marine world. His engineering mindset gives him a collaborative approach to problem solving that he has found useful as a Marine Resources Committee member.
As a representative of recreational interests, Kirby has watched over the years as access to shoreline areas has decreased and high quality dive sites are lost. He sees opportunities to bring in engineering expertise to solve some of the problems of the railroad along the shoreline, and wants to work on keeping a good balance between protecting marine areas while still making sure that people are able to use and enjoy them.
Over the years, Snohomish MRC and the Northwest Straits Commission have benefited from Kirby’s insightful nature. Kirby’s time on the MRC will come to an end this December, when his final term expires. He’s still got a lot of ideas and passion for the work of the MRC and Commission, so it is likely we will continue to cross paths with him.
Don Meehan, Island MRC
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.
Buck Meloy, Whatcom MRC
As a commercial fisherman, I had always been active politically to assure that measures designed to promote fishing's long-term sustainability would actually do that. But when the Whatcom County Executive contacted me nearly a decade ago about a new organization that was forming to protect the waters of northern Puget Sound, I told him I wasn't interested. I had spent too many years attending meetings that did little but sap my time and energy.
He didn't give up. This was different, he said. Ordinary citizens with an interest in the health and use of their marine resources would work together to develop proposals WE believed would help solve problems as WE understood them. No hierarchy, no bureaucrats, no bosses. Yikes! And my input would be useful to people with less experience on the water, or with fish and fishing, than I had.
I soon found myself sitting in a roomful of people who tended to think that commercial fishing was part of the problem. It was a challenge and a pleasure to educate those folks about fishing's real influences on Puget Sound, and about the devastating environmental impacts of salmon farming everywhere that it had become big business.
Working together with a common goal of improving the natural world in which we live has a powerful pull on people. Political, ethnic, and lifestyle differences melt away, and consensus builds as MRC members discover that their differences are really small, and that meaningful ideas can be shaped through accommodation, often adding strength to the concepts to which they are applied.
It truly warmed my heart when my MRC successfully persuaded the Whatcom County Council to issue a resolution banning salmon farming. Thank you, Whatcom MRC. As the Whatcom representative to the Commission, I encouraged the Commission to issue a statement in support of citizen oversight of marine transportation of petroleum products. When the Washington legislature debated the issue for Puget Sound, the Northwest Straits resolution helped achieve a positive outcome.
The derelict gear removal project finally became a reality under the auspices of the Northwest Straits. My role was small -- to make sure we didn't screw it up. Maintaining support for the project within the fishing community required only that fishermen not be unfairly cast in the roles of bad guys.
It takes a lot of time to read reports, consider ideas, think things through, and attend MRC, Northwest Straits Commission, and committee meetings. For me, it has been time extremely well spent. Our actions change attitudes while our projects solve problems. It's fun, and it feels good. The Northwest Straits Commission really is different, and it works.
Phyllis Kind, Island MRC
Phyllis Kind had spent time in many different areas of the country – Montana, Michigan, Colorado and Washington, DC among them – but knew she wanted to head west when she was ready to retire. At the recommendation of family living in the area, she checked out Whidbey Island and found it suited her very well. One of the first steps she took upon arrival was to enroll in the Beach Watchers training program, which led her to the Island MRC.
Phyllis is a perfect example of the sort of person that it was hoped would be attracted to the idea of joining a local Marine Resources Committee. Coming from a science background, the skills she acquired and used during her years working in immunology at George Washington University brought valuable expertise to the Island MRC. Equally important are her passion for exploring the world - both on a small scale tidepooling around the Sound, or traveling around the globe for new experiences – and her strong belief in the bottom-up process that drives the Northwest Straits Initiative.
An avid birder, Phyllis is ready with her bird identification guide and binoculars at a moment’s notice. She has contributed many hours to the Pigeon Guillemot survey work in Island County, and is a member of the Whidbey Audubon Society. Exploring the area by kayak is her favorite way to get up close, taking care not to disturb migrating birds in need of a rest.
Phyllis is in her third and final term on the Island MRC, and served as their representative to the Northwest Straits Commission for several years, including terms as vice-chair and chair of the Commission. As someone with a great capacity and interest in learning, she continues to explore new ideas for work to be done locally and regionally. Although she’ll be greatly missed once her time has ended on the MRC, it is clear that she’s committed to continuing to do good work for the environment and will bring new energy to another fortunate group.
The Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative, authorized by Congress, is nationally recognized as an innovative approach to bring sound science and an ecosystem perspective together with citizen energy and entrepreneurship.