The Marine Resources Committee (MRC) is an advisory group to the Board of County Commissioners. MRC members are citizen volunteers committed to protecting and restoring marine habitats in our ecologically rich corner of the world.

Monthly Meeting - Oct 2, 2018
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Two Americorps volunteers spreading mulch during the June rain garden installation. Photo by Cheryl Lowe

Help Plant Another Rain Garden - Sept 25th

Jefferson MRC, WSU Extension and the City of Port Townsend are teaming up to install another rain garden on Sept 25th.  Join us for a couple of hours of digging-in-the-dirt fun!

  • 9:30am -12 noon
  • 1pm - 3:30pm 

This rain garden will capture and treat stormwater runoff from portions of Harrison, Lincoln, and Van Buren Streets in Uptown PT, preventing contaminants from reaching Port Townsend Bay. 

Choose a shift or come for as long as you can. Email Cheryl Lowe (cheryl.lowe@wsu.edu) with the time you’ll be there. Cheryl will get back to you with more details about location and what to bring.

 

Olympia Oyster Update

Amazing Volunteers & Monitoring Galore!

A wonderful crew of volunteers has been helping the MRC all summer monitoring our Olympia Oyster enhancement projects. Many thanks to the dedicated community volunteers  who came out several times to our Quilcene and Discovery Bay sites to collect data on the tideflats. 

Stormwater Outreach

Michelle Chow, Program Assistant, has been helping the MRC with community outreach around stormwater. She staffed a table at the All County Picnic, helped organize our Wooden Boat Festival booth, and will be at the Quilcene Fair in early September.  Thank you, Northwest Straits Foundation, for the Opportunity Fund grant that supports this position.

To read more on how stormwater affects Puget Sound visit:

https://www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/stormwater

For tips on how to reduce stormwater pollution visit:

http://www.ci.bremerton.wa.us/498/Stormwater-Pollution-Prevention

MRC Project Plans for 2018 include:
-- Expanding Olympia oyster habitat to benefit multiple marine species
-- More rain gardens to improve water quality
-- Maintaining voluntary no-anchor zones to protect shellfish and eelgrass
-- Community outreach & education programs
-- Citizen Science Monitoring (beaches, kelp & forage fish)

Photo by Cheryl Lowe