04/02/2008: "Meetings On Proposed SJ Aquatic Reserve"

One of the questions asked by the County Council when they agreed to sent a letter of intent to support the nomination of SJC into an Aquatic Reserve, was "Will SJC Lose Control To DNR?" .
The question is bound to come up again at a series of public meetings with the San Juan Marine Resources Committee (MRC) and the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) invites the public to three open houses to discuss the proposed San Juan Aquatic Reserve on state aquatic lands that surround the San Juan Islands. The meeting schedule starts on Friday, (4-4-08):

April 4 - 6:00 to 7: 30 p.m. San Juan Island Grange Friday Harbor
April 5 - 11:00 a.m. 12: 30 p.m. Lopez Community Center
April 5 - 3:30 5: 00 p.m. Eastsound Fire Station

“I’m very pleased by the response of the scientific and environmental communities in developing proposals for new aquatic reserves,” said Doug Sutherland, Commissioner of Public Lands. “We knew that once we put together a solid Aquatic Reserve Program we could count on these communities to identify ecologically important additions to be considered for the state’s reserve system.”

Public comments made at past Council meetings when the proposal was discussed indicate some in the community are more concerned with the possibility of losing more local control, then they are with helping “to identify ecologically important additions” to be included in an Aquatic Reserve Program.

Sutherland said “I appreciate the work that San Juan Marine Resources Committee has put into this proposal and look forward to public input.”

The Draft Plan can be downloaded by clicking here: AquaticReservefinaldraft-1.pdf (6015k file), (the file large with many charts, so it takes some time to download)