President Obama established by executive order the San Juan Islands National Monument last March and this week activists on Lopez Island met Bureau of Land Management Interim Monument Manager Marcia deChandenedes (pronounced, she says, like the white wine we all enjoy.)
It’s good to see that the BLM is committed to keep up the momentum of the public push to establish the monument. Marcia’s job is to kick start the process of developing a management plan for the monument and, to that end, the BLM is hosting three island ‘listening’ sessions to gather the public’s vision of what the monument’s protection should accomplish.
There's also the opportunity to work out better coordination of state and federal resources for protection of lands and waters in the islands.
The meetings will be held on:
Orcas Island - Thursday, September 26, 6-8pm
Senior Center, 62 Henry Road, Eastsound
San Juan Island - Friday, September 27, 10am-noon
Friday Harbor Grange, 152 N 1st Street
Lopez Island - Friday, September 27, 6-8pm
Woodmen Hall, 4102 Fisherman Bay Road
One good way of keeping abreast of monument news and the management plan developments is to check in with Islanders for the San Juan Islands National Monument.
--Mike Sato
Thanks for the updates and links on our new mounument.
ReplyDeleteThis is a truly exciting and long-range process that--if approached with head, heart and soul truly aligned--can become a model of island conservation that in turn serves as a critical restoration model for other island communities.
ReplyDeleteOur work together for the San Juan Islands' National Monument is beautifully reflected in Gandhi's quote: "The future depends on what we do now in the present."