San Juan Initiative brings together federal, tribal,
state and local leaders in Mullis Center today
public invited
posted 06/13/2007
In a landmark event, the San Juan Initiative, working in partnership with the San Juan County Council, will bring together leaders from four levels of government—federal, tribal, state and local—in a shared strategy session with local community and non-profit leaders to identify ecosystem priorities for the County and region that would benefit from cross-jurisdictional efforts.
The meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 13th beginning at 12:30 pm at the Mullis Senior Community Center in Friday Harbor. The public is invited to attend.
This will be the first of several meetings over the next two years to improve ecosystem protection programs and improve efficiency between the governmental agencies, tribes and non-profits. The San Juan Initiative is coordinating the effort to generate solutions to local and regional ecosystem problems and to create a forum for implementation of ecosystem-based solutions.
"This is an incredible opportunity for regional resource protection from land to sea," said San Juan County Council Member Kevin Ranker. "Together with our federal, state and tribal partners we can develop ecosystem solutions to address what are clearly ecosystem problems," he continued.
The agenda for the day includes presentations from Bill Ruckleshaus, Kevin Ranker and Jim Kramer (Director, Shared Strategy for Puget Sound) and local and state San Juan Initiative Policy Group members. Policy Group members attending include: Jeri Ahrenius (Jenson’s Ship Yard), Tom Cowan (Past Director of the Northwest Straits Commission, Lopez), Jonathan White (Builder, Orcas), Sam Buck (Realtor, SJ), Patty Miller (Orcas Island), Lincoln Borman (Director of the San Juan County Land Bank), Peter Kilpatrick (Builder, SJ), Nick Jones (Commercial Fisherman), Liz Illg (Friday Harbor Town Council), Lynn Bahrych (Washington State Conservation Commission, Shaw), Lisa Byers (OPAL Community Land Trust), Kit Rawson (Tulalip Tribe, SJ), Steve Simpson (Port of Friday Harbor), Ron Zee (San Juan County Conservation District).
Local community members will be joined by directors of state agencies, regional directors of federal agencies, and non-profits with land management responsibility in the San Juans: Director of WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife Jeff Koenings, US Corps of Engineers Colonel McCormick, Regional Manager, US Fish and Wildlife Ken Berg, The Nature Conservancy WA State Director David Weekes, NOAA Regional Administrator Bob Lohn.
The San Juan Initiative is a public-private partnership to improve ecosystem protection in the region from land to sea. The San Juan Initiative seeks effective protection of the San Juan Islands by evaluating how successful volunteer, incentive, regulatory and education programs are in securing the vitality of the region’s natural resources for future generations and developing ecosystem-based recommendations to address their findings. Led by a broad constituency of volunteer community leaders and regional resource managers, the San Juan Initiative is a pilot project for the entire Puget Sound. For more information, contact: Amy Windrope, Project Manager awindrope@sanjuaninitiative.org or 360-298-2278.
County pursuing eco-based management
posted 03/10/2006
By the end of 2007, San Juan County citizens will be endorsing a package of voluntary guidelines, regulations and incentives they helped compile to protect the ecosystem. That is the desired outcome of the San Juan Ecosystem-Based Management Initiative proposed by Shared Strategies. The county Council agreed to proceed with the initiative at its March 7, 2006 meeting.
A $60,000 grant has already been committed to the project and another $250,000 is expected soon. Jim Kramer of Shared Strategies said, there may be four or five more grants possible for the Initiative.
Kramer and Carol MacIlroy of Shared Strategies presented a draft proposal to council. The draft explains the project:
The San Juan Initiative seeks to protect ecological functions in a manner that also protects human interests such as water quality, human health, private property rights and public safety. This proposal recommends a public-private partnership that focuses on the natural ecosystem of the San Juan Islands and the surrounding marine waters while creating a framework and a community forum to integrate and foster synergies from a combination of available management tools - regulatory, voluntary, incentive and educational programs.
This Initiative is unique in that is proposes to involve community members and leader, scientists, and key stakeholders in defining the problem, crafting solutions and then committing to act across each of these programs. It also proposes that solutions to these complex ecological problems draw on local and traditional knowledge, the experiences of those who live and work on the land, and the scientists who are experts in their fields of study. By creating a partnership, the community is not put in a position of responding, positively or negatively to a government proposal, but rather has the opportunity of shaping the future for their community from start to finish."
The first phase is expected to be completed by June 2006 and includes hiring a project manager, setting up a Policy Group and Technical Team.
During the second phase, from June to December 2006, the Policy Group and Technical Team will work with local community groups to compile best available science, program and community protection goals. Success of existing programs and gaps that need to be filled will be identified.
Between December 2006 and August 2007, the Policy Group will work in conjunction with the community to reach consensus on what ecosystems and related community needs must be protected. Ways to fill the gaps will be found. A package will be put together to be presented to the community at large.
A plan of action will be created from September to Decemeber 2007. The organizational structure for long-term implementation and management will be solidified.
A celebration will be held in January 2008. Implementation of the plan begins with new management and administrative structure.
Councilmember Kevin Ranker contacted Shared Strategies last year about working with San Juan County. He was looking for funding for the Critical Areas Ordinance Update the county must do as part of the Growth Management Act. While the Initiative won't produce the CAO, information used in both projects will overlap.
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