Skagit Marine Resources Committee
Skagit County’s 189 miles of shoreline include rocky islands, the productive Skagit River delta, countless sloughs, bays, and pocket estuaries. The Sauk, Skagit and Samish rivers flow from the Cascade mountains through fertile agricultural land, providing water needed to grow crops and support salmon and waterfowl populations. The county’s marine waters are plied by pleasure craft bound for the San Juan Islands as well as large oil tankers calling at two refineries at March Point near Anacortes. One hundred fifteen thousand people live in Skagit County, with Mount Vernon and Anacortes the county’s two largest cities. The Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, Swinomish Tribe and the Upper Skagit Tribe hold reservation lands and the Samish Indian Nation has federal trust lands within Skagit County. Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is also located in Skagit County.
Skagit County MRC’s 18 members represent a broad spectrum of interests including the four tribes, Shannon Point Marine Center, Washington Department of Natural Resources, People For Puget Sound, marine scientists, recreational divers and fishermen, local government, the oil refineries at March Point, Skagit Land Trust and concerned citizens. Members take active leadership in accomplishing MRC projects.
Skagit MRC is taking a long-term strategic approach to identifying restoration opportunities in county waters. Over the last two years, the MRC has completed drift cell analyses for nearly 30% of the county shoreline. Looking at the movement of sediment and comparing current and historic conditions helps the MRC make restoration decisions based on underlying ecological processes.
In 2008, Skagit MRC also took on new projects to focus attention on water quality. Low impact development (LID) workshops and demonstrations, a Fidalgo Bay Contaminant Assessment, and investigations of point source control methods were all accomplishments in 2008.
The Skagit MRC’s stated purpose is to “act as a catalyst for protection and restoration of the marine waters, habitats and species of Skagit County to achieve ecosystem health and sustainable resource use.” A key committee task is to involve and educate the public about these issues.
“For the past five years Skagit MRC has involved a host of other businesses and organizations in an event designed to remind the public that the sea around them is a marvelous collection of nooks, crannies, caves and holes filled with plants and animals both as familiar as oysters and as strange as any alien being ever imagined. Each one of us has a little bit of the secret scientist inside us. It is this spark of curiosity we seek to strike with our annual MRC public education effort, Fidalgo Bay Day. As budgets shrink, an educated electorate will be increasingly important to preserving the treasures of the sea. Public education about the world of water is one of the most vital parts of our mission.” —Erica Pickett, City of Anacortes and Skagit MRC Member
Click here to see the 2008 Skagit MRC project matrix.
Click here to see some of the reports from Skagit MRC projects
MRC Members
- Neil Borman, chair
- Kevin Bright
- Kurt Buchanan
- Paul Dinnel
- Ivar Dolph
- Polly Fischer
- John Giboney
- Lawrence Joseph
- Gloria Kyle
- Kari Odden
- Charles O'Hara
- Andrea McBride (alternate member)
- Michelle Meyers (alternate member)
- Erik Newman (alternate member)
- Erica Pickett
- Jim Ramaglia
- Mike Sato
- Scott Schuyler
- Rebecca Spurling
- Betsy Stevenson
- Connie Thoman
- Jennifer Weeks (alternate member)
- Christine Woodward
Contact
Tracy Alker
1800 Continental Place
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
phone: 360-336-9400 x3157
tracya@co.skagit.wa.us
Skagit MRC Meetings
Date: Second Thursday of each month
Time: 9:00-11:00am
Location: Alternates between the Mt. Vernon Senior Center and the Anacortes Public Library
Location may change - please contact Tracy Patton for specific meeting locations.
Please click the link below to go directly to the Skagit MRC website.
http://www.skagitcounty.net/MRC
