06/08/2007: "SJI To Hold Major Meeting On Ecosystem Protection"

The public is invited to attend a San Juan Initiative (SJI) meeting on Wednesday, June 13th (12:30 pm at the Mullis Senior Community Center in Friday Harbor) that will have representatives from State and Federal Agencies, Tribal Leaders and San Juan County, meeting to hold a shared strategy session on local and regional ecosystem protection opportunities; that is: “identify ecosystem priorities for the County and region that would benefit from cross-jurisdictional efforts.”.

According to a press release from SJI, “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”.

Looking forward to the meeting, Councilman Kevin Ranker said “This is an incredible opportunity for regional resource protection from land to sea,”. Ranker believes that “together with our federal, state and tribal partners we can develop ecosystem solutions to address what are clearly ecosystem problems,”.

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).

State & federal: The 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:

Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland
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.

Agenda
June 13, 2007
Mullis Senior Community Center
Friday Harbor, San Juan Island

12:30 Lunch

12:45 Welcome by Kevin Ranker and Bill Ruckelshaus
Introductions

1:00 Bill Ruckelshaus - The New Puget Sound Partnership and Priority Issues Facing Puget Sound

Agency directors, tribes, and non-profit land managers begin discussion: What are the issues faced by regional resource managers that would benefit from a cross-jurisdictional ecosystem approach?

2:00 Break

2:15 San Juan Initiative
Overview: Amy Windrope

2:30 Local Policy Group Members begin discussion “What issues threaten San Juan County and surrounding marine ecosystem and would benefit from a cross-jurisdictional ecosystem approach?’

3:15 Discussion: What are the connections between the local and regional issues and where are the opportunities for linking efforts?

4:00 Public Comment

4:15 Next Steps

4:30 Adjourn